


Two Is Not the Same

by yuwinil



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BDSM, Daddy Kink, Degradation, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Hate Sex, Hybrids, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Polyamory, Possessive Behavior, Slow Burn, Smut, Taeil is a bit of shithead for a while there please forgive him, lion Yuta, lots more kinks I won't even try tagging, oh my god so much fucking smut, other kpop groups as side characters, puppy Sicheng, small side ships, wolf hybrid Taeil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 08:56:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14667678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuwinil/pseuds/yuwinil
Summary: They say if you're in love with one person and you fall in love with another, you should choose the second person because if you were truly in love with the first then you wouldn't have fallen in love with the second. They also say you can just have both.





	Two Is Not the Same

**Author's Note:**

> oh my gosh I have been working on this for so long !! this story has gone through so many different changes but I am finally pretty happy with it, even though it is the longest fic I have ever written so I'm kind of nervous about that... just a warning if you've never read hybrid or ABO fics, or just a reminder, that a lot of times the characters are a bit OOC because hormones, heats, ruts, animal instincts, etc. so don't give me shit about that :) anywho. I hope you enjoy !!

The house was getting a new hybrid. Some people were nervous, some people were excited. Sicheng was ecstatic. He was a dog hybrid and he loved meeting new people, even if he was a little awkward at first. He was especially looking forward to meeting this new hybrid because he was a wolf, and Sicheng had never met a wolf before. All the hybrids in the house had heard stories about wolves being aggressive and mean, which was probably why they were holed up in their rooms or hanging out in the backyard. Not the puppies, though.

 

Yukhei, Kun, Minho, and Taehyung were among the other dog hybrids eagerly waiting by the door on the day of the wolf’s arrival. They heard the car pull up in the driveway and they all scurried to the door. The head of the house, a human named Leeteuk, was the one who opened the door and walked out to greet him and help him carry his luggage in. A wonderful scent flooded in through the doors. Citrus and mint. Sicheng felt weightless all of a sudden, as he took in multiple deep breaths and made himself dizzy trying to fill his nose with the scent.

 

“He smells so good!” Sicheng says to the other dog hybrids, his tail quickly wagging back and forth.

 

“He smells like you,” Kun, Sicheng's best friend, remarks and squeezes his arm. They’re standing right next to each other with linked arms, eagerly waiting to see the wolf.

 

“You know what that means,” Minho smirks.

 

“We’re going to get along,” Sicheng beams.

 

Generally speaking, hybrids with similar scents gravitate towards each other because they appear familiar and easy to trust. Sicheng’s scent is a mix of mandarin orange and lavender, sweet and approachable. Kun’s scent is like lemongrass and lavender, which is why they had first approached each other and become close friends.

 

Sicheng sees a boy walking up the stairs and he grins from ear to ear. The wolf, who he can now see has brown hair and pointy ears atop his head, grins softly at him as he walks through the door.

 

“Everyone, this is Moon Taeil. He’s a wolf hybrid as you can see. And he will be staying with us from now on. Please give him a warm welcome,” Leeteuk says.

 

Taeil bows as he makes eye contact with each individual. His eyes land on Sicheng last, and the puppy can’t help but blush as they bow to each other. He doesn’t want to scare the wolf off with how excited he is to meet him. Taeil’s presence is calm but fierce, and he looks different from anyone else he’s ever seen, so dare Sicheng admit that he’s also a little intimidated.

 

Leeteuk closes the door behind them and Taeil is forced to step further into the house. He moves to stand by Sicheng, and the dog hybrid wonders if he’s noticed his scent yet. Being in a house full of new scents is sure to confuse him, but maybe he can smell a familiar one peeking through.

 

The puppies introduce themselves to the wolf, and Sicheng is last. Taeil gives him a smile and a “nice to meet you.”

 

“Would someone care to show him to his room? And perhaps give him a tour of the house?” Leeteuk asks.

 

“I will!” Sicheng raises his hand and speaks over Minho, who also offers to show their new housemate around.

 

“Oh, perfect! Sicheng will show you around,” Leeteuk grins. He turns to Sicheng. “Be sure to tell him as much as you can and I’ll fill in all the gaps later. And please introduce him to everyone!”

 

“Okay,” Sicheng nods. He leads the wolf hybrid up the stairs and down the hall, and the wolf fares fine carrying his own luggage without any help. A big strong wolf! Sicheng is fascinated. He doesn’t think of himself as weak, but he always finds himself asking everyone around him for help opening jars and lifting heavy objects. Thankfully there’s always someone around to help.

 

“So where are you coming from?” Sicheng inquires as they walk to the end of the hall.

 

“From another hybrid home actually. I was part of a pack, but… you know how things go. Young packs,” the wolf shrugs.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry… I actually don’t know much about wolves so I don’t really know what you mean. But, um... you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Sicheng turns around to look at him as they reach his new room, just a few doors down from his own room.

 

“It’s a bit complicated. I’ll tell you another time.”

 

“Okay,” he grins, walking into what is now Taeil’s bedroom. “This is your room. Everything in it belongs to you now, and you can do pretty much anything you want with it.”

 

Taeil walks in and nods, setting down his luggage and putting his bag on the bed.

 

“So, are you an alpha, omega?”

 

“I’m an alpha.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“I’m shorter than most alphas, yeah. I know I don’t seem like one.”

 

Sicheng raises his hands in defense. “Hey, I know nothing about wolves. As far as I know all alphas look like you.”

 

“Most alphas are pretty big."

 

“Hm. Are you in school?” The puppy’s ears perk up as he asks his question.

 

“Yeah, I go to Seoul City University.”

 

“Me too! How old are you?”

 

“Twenty-three. I’m in graduate school. What about you?”

 

“Oh, I’m twenty,” Sicheng grins, hands behind his back, fiddling with his fingers nervously. “Do you want me to show you around the house now?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Sicheng nods and walks out of the room but Taeil stops him with a hand on his arm.

 

“Um, just real quick… I, uh- I’ve never really met other hybrids, so…” he stammers out awkwardly.

 

“Other than wolves?”

 

Taeil nods.

 

“Okay. Well, we can hold off meeting the others, if you’d like?”

 

Taeil sighs in relief. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

 

“Are you shy?” Sicheng smirks.

 

“A little, yeah. Most wolves are.”

 

“Huh, we haven’t gotten to the wolf unit yet.”

 

“What do you mean?” Taeil quirks his brow.

 

“In my sociology class. We’ve really only covered cats and dogs so far since those are the most common.”

 

“Oh, is that your major?”

 

“No, actually, I’m studying dance. What about you?”

 

“Dance? Wow. I’m studying literature and creative writing.”

 

“So you’re a writer?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“That’s really interesting.”

 

They both laugh at the awkward silence that follows.

 

“Shall I show you around now?”

 

“Sure,” the wolf grins.

 

They walk a few meters down the hall and take a look into Sicheng’s room. “This is my room,” the dog hybrid beams, stepping in and smoothing his hand over his desk. Taeil takes a few steps in and looks around.

 

A smirk forms on his face and Sicheng is about to inquire but then he speaks. “You smell really nice, by the way.”

 

Sicheng scoffs. “You’re not so shy around me.”

 

Taeil laughs. “For obvious reasons.”

 

“I’m just teasing. I offered to show you around for a reason, you know.”

 

“That’s very nice of you, thank you.”

 

“Yeah,” Sicheng shrugs, stepping closer to the wolf. He points to his upper chest, a more polite area than the neck for what he’s about to suggest. “May I?”

 

“Oh, sure.”

 

Sicheng nods and slowly steps forward until he’s in the wolf’s space. He inches forward and leans down until his nose is grazing Taeil’s shirt, noticing how the wolf’s tail is wagging slowly, meaning he’s happy and relaxed. Sicheng takes a steady breath in and gets a concentrated whiff of orange and mint. It’s so familiar yet also so foreign. He’s never smelled mint on anyone before. It’s refreshing. He smiles softly at the wolf who looks back at him with the same look.

 

“May I?” Taeil asks.

 

“Go ahead.”

 

Taeil puts his nose much closer to Sicheng’s neck than what may be deemed as polite. Sicheng doesn’t know much about wolves so he’s not going to judge. Friends and acquaintances usually keep a friendly distance by scouting scents by the chest or shoulder, while close friends and lovers get the neck, exactly where the pheromones are emitted.

 

“Really good,” Taeil hums as he leans back.

 

“And really close to my neck, pal,” Sicheng teases. He immediately regrets saying that because he didn’t actually mind, he just wanted to banter.

 

“My bad,” the wolf chuckles shyly, taking a step back.

 

“I was kinda joking,” the puppy chuckles.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Should I show you the rest of the house?”

 

“Yeah. And would you mind calling me hyung?”

 

“Oh, okay. So soon?”

 

“We did just scout each other’s scents.”

 

“Good point, hyung.”

 

They grin at each other before Sicheng continues showing Taeil the house.

 

Sicheng shows Taeil every shared room. The entertainment center upstairs where all the video games are, the two living rooms, the kitchen, the dining room, the massive library, and the sunroom where the kittens like to lounge. The house is huge, located just outside of Seoul where the city meets the countryside, and it’s a fifteen minute walk to the train station where all of the hybrids go to commute to work or school.

 

It’s around noon when they finish, and Sicheng can smell someone cooking lunch in the kitchen. He makes his way there with Taeil following him close behind. Chanyeol the fox and Yuta the lion are standing over a huge, steaming pot and a few hybrids mingle around the kitchen.

 

Sicheng has no choice but to introduce the wolf to them. “Everyone, this is Taeil!”

 

Taeil sighs quietly so only Sicheng can hear it, and Sicheng turns around to grab Taeil’s arm and pull him forward. Taeil bows and says hi to everyone. They all say their names and he know he won’t remember them but he bows curtly to everyone anyway.

 

“Let him have the first bowl!” Yuta says and prepares a bowl of soup for him. Taeil takes it and thanks him.

 

“How are you today, puppy?” Yuta grins at Sicheng.

 

“I’m good, how are you?” Sicheng smiles.

 

“I’m great. Here, you get a bowl too,” Yuta hands a bowl to Sicheng and holds his face while he kisses his cheek. “Enjoy your food.”

 

“Thanks, hyung,” the puppy blushes.

 

Sicheng leads Taeil outside away from the crowd and tours him around the gardens as their soup cools down.

 

“Are you guys close?” Taeil inquires.

 

“Me and Yuta? Yeah, we are. Kun is my best friend, though.”

 

“Was he the one next to you earlier?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

They sit and eat, chatting away undisturbed, and Sicheng finds it intriguing the way their conversation develops and they talk to each other like old friends. It’s probably because of their scent similarities.

 

Taeil tells him sometime later that he’s very introverted and prefers to spend his time alone, but it certainly doesn’t seem that way when they spend the rest of the day together looking through books in the library and when Sicheng shows the wolf around the countryside and how to get to the train station.

 

It’s when Taeil visits his room the next day that he realizes they’re going to be close friends. He comes in looking a little frazzled and Sicheng sits him down on the bed and asks him what’s wrong.

 

“I hope you don’t mind me coming in here. It’s just that I, uh… it’s really stressful being bombarded by all these new scents and not being able to sort through them. And I really like your scent.”

 

“I don’t mind. You’re welcome to come in here anytime you need.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, of course, hyung.”

 

“It’s so strong in here.”

 

“My scent?”

 

“Yeah. And my room doesn’t smell like me yet.”

 

“You can stay in here as long as you want.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Of course. I was just watching Gravity Falls, do you want to join me?”

 

“Oh, I love Gravity Falls!”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite shows.”

 

“Me too,” Sicheng chuckles. “That’s so funny.” He adjusts his laptop so that it faces both of them and he lays on his stomach and rests his face in his hands.

 

Taeil assumes the same position and asks for a pillow to support his head. And then Sicheng presses play.

 

It should be weird sitting like this next to a new acquaintance, who had been a stranger just a day before, but it isn’t. Taeil already feels like a friend, laying on his bed and asking for a pillow like he’s done it a million times before. Scent similarities have much stronger effects than Sicheng seems to remember.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Taeil finds a cozy spot in Sicheng’s life and sets up camp very quickly. It’s effortless and natural, and they have a sort of chemistry that Sicheng has never experienced before. They’re so similar, it feels like he doesn’t have to test the waters before he says or does something. He knows Taeil will react positively to his weird sense of humor and niche interests. Oftentimes they find out that they share the same niche interests, like a fascination with Southeastern Asian food and horror novels.

 

They have a similar schedule so they ride the train together into the city and listen to Norwegian pop music with a shared pair of earbuds. They find out they're both regulars at the same Vietnamese restaurant, so they stop by there for lunch whenever they can. And Taeil tells Sicheng all about wolves.

 

“Most of us are pretty shy unless we’re around our pack, and not many wolves have a pack nowadays. It’s a dying tradition.”

 

“Is that what made you move?”

 

“Yeah. I had a pack but it was never official because there weren’t any kids. So, it broke apart pretty easily and I sort of had this idea that I might try looking for something else instead of a pack. Or at least, a pack but not made of wolves.”

 

“You have to have kids to be an official pack?”

 

“You have to breed, yeah. The kids signify the mixing of the pack. And we were all young so that hadn’t happened.”

 

“Do you know where any of them are?”

 

“Yeah, but I don’t really care. I’m still a bit resentful to everything that happened. I was basically the last one trying to hold onto the pack, so you can imagine how it felt.”

 

“I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry if I’m oversharing.”

 

“No, you’re not. I want to know more about you.”

 

Taeil holds back a grin. “Like what?”

 

“Well, I’ve been reading about wolves and it said that they’re pretty rare. But, they’re a growing population?”

 

“Oh, I actually don’t know anything about that. I just know that we’re rare.”

 

“Oh. Well, I also read that wolves are reclusive, but you don’t seem that way to me. And I’m not too talkative but I do like being around people. So, if we’re going to be friends then that’s going to be a problem because puppies love being around people.”

 

“ _If_ we’re going to be friends?” Taeil chuckles, nudging Sicheng’s foot under the table.

 

“Okay, we’re already friends. You know what I mean.” Sicheng nudges his foot back.

 

“I think wolves act different around other wolves compared to other kinds of hybrids.”

 

“So?”

 

“If you need attention I’ll give you attention. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

 

“I didn’t say attention,” Sicheng blushes.

 

“Fine then, I’ll keep you company. Better?”

 

“You mean that?” He grins hopefully.

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Okay,” he smiles down at his lap.

 

When they get home and settle in to watch Gravity Falls, Taeil puts an arm around Sicheng and the puppy grins from ear to ear and shyly wraps an arm around his waist.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng sees Kun talking to Jungwoo one morning and he realizes he hasn’t been keeping up with his best friend recently, and what kind of friend does that make him? He didn’t know Jungwoo and Kun were close, especially with the way they’re sitting by the glass door in the big kitchen. Side by side with Jungwoo’s head resting on Kun’s shoulder, his tail swishing softly back and forth by his side.

 

Taeil must be sleeping still so he decides to sit with Jungwoo and Kun. Jungwoo jumps up and meows when Sicheng walks in front of them.

 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” Sicheng apologizes.

 

“It’s okay, you just startled me,” Jungwoo smiles and scoots closer to Kun and rests his head back on his shoulder.

 

“Good morning, Sichengie,” Kun grins.

 

“Morning.”

 

Jungwoo looks at his phone and sits up. “We have to go soon.” He turns to Kun. Kun looks at the phone and nods with a sigh.

 

“We have to go, Sichengie. I’m sorry.”

 

“No, it’s fine. Do you want to hang out later?”

 

“Yeah, sure. Just text me.”

 

Sicheng is left to eat his toast all alone. He stares out into the garden and watches the birds fly and sing around the trees. It’s a peaceful scene. He can smell Taeil before he can see him, so he isn’t surprised when Taeil turns around the corner with a big smile and walks up to him to hug him.

 

“Good morning,” the wolf greets him warmly.

 

“Morning.”

 

“You didn’t wake me up.”

 

“Should I have?”

 

“Yeah, so we can eat together.”

 

“I’ll do it tomorrow.”

 

“Okay,” Taeil grins and makes himself some toast with jam as well. They sit together and they talk about their plans for the day. It’s the weekend so they have lots of free time.

 

“Let’s walk around Seoul,” Taeil suggests.

 

“Anything you want to do in particular?”

 

“There are a few restaurants I want to try.”

 

“A few?”

 

“We don’t have to go to all of them. But, I found this really cool Thai place. And I want to go to the library and pick up some stuff. Sound interesting?”

 

“Ooh, let’s go to Han River, too!”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Taeil grins.

 

They get ready after breakfast and take the fifteen minute walk to the train station. Sicheng puts on a playlist he made for the ride to the city.

 

Seoul is bustling with millions of people squeezing past each other and pushing and shoving. Taeil intertwines his fingers with Sicheng’s when the train slows down at their stop, and Sicheng looks at him curiously.

 

“There’s a lot of people,” he says. “Gotta stay together.”

 

Taeil doesn’t let go of Sicheng’s hand all day. Not when they’re in the quiet library looking around at books. Not when Sicheng wants to wander off to the science fiction section. Taeil doesn’t even let go of his hand at the Thai restaurant until the exact moment their food is served. Sicheng isn’t used to so much physical affection, but he goes along with it. Perhaps Taeil never had that kind of affectionate relationship with his pack, and he wants to give him that.

 

The Thai food is delicious and gives them energy to walk around the river and look at all the people painting, wake boarding, biking, and eating. They walk around for a bit and take a seat on a public bench to look out at the water. Taeil takes out a poetry book he bought and reads to Sicheng. Sicheng sighs softly and leans over to rest his head by Taeil’s neck. He takes in a deep breath of Taeil’s gorgeous scent, his nose right by his scent gland, and breathes out. His breath tickles Taeil’s neck, and Taeil tilts his head to touch Sicheng’s and acknowledge him.

 

“Hyung, I’m sleepy,” Sicheng says after Taeil’s read a few poems.

 

“You want to go home?”

 

“Can we?”

 

“Sure thing.” Taeil packs up.

 

They walk to the train and ride home, no music this time. They just lean against each other and hold hands. It’s mid afternoon when they arrive home, and they curl up in Taeil’s bed to take a nap.

 

Sicheng wakes first. It’s just after sundown and he can smell dinner cooking downstairs. He rustles his wolf friend awake and they slowly sit up in bed and take a few minutes to fully wake up. They trot downstairs and see a kitchen full of hybrids and Taeyong and Jaehyun passing plates of spaghetti around. Sicheng and Taeil get a plate and make their way to the dining room where everyone else is going.

 

Taeil prefers to eat alone with just Sicheng, but he sometimes can’t avoid eating with everyone, especially at dinner. Someone usually makes a big dinner and expects everyone to eat together, like tonight.

 

Taeil eats his spaghetti slowly and avoids talking, while Sicheng catches up with everyone he can. Taeil is fascinated watching the puppy engage with everyone, so eager to do so with his tail wagging quickly back and forth behind him.

 

“Taeil likes writing.”

 

Taeil feels a hand on his thigh and Sicheng’s voice pulls him out of his trance.

 

“Huh?” He looks around the table.

 

“Yixing was talking about a song he’s working on. He produces music, and he writes, like you,” Sicheng nudges him.

 

He looks to Yixing and smiles at him. “That’s cool.”

 

Yixing nods.

 

“You guys are both so shy,” Kibum snickers.

 

“You’re one to talk,” Sicheng says.

 

“I’m not shy!” Kibum says. Mouse hybrids, extremely talkative and sometimes a bit clueless.

 

“I mean you’re so talkative, compared to you anyone is shy.”

 

“Oh, well I mean I’m just saying if they have a similar interest then surely there’d be plenty to talk about and I know Taeil is still kind of new but not that new so he shouldn’t be that shy and I’m sure we’d all love to know more about him so I was just pointing it out because in the context of the situation it seemed like it made sense.”

 

The table is silent and Kibum giggles.

 

“Wolf hybrids keep to themselves like mouses talk too much,” Sicheng shrugs.

 

“Hey!” All the mouse hybrids protest, Kibum, Minseok, and Jongdae.

 

“If you guys want to know anything, you can ask me,” Taeil interjects.

 

“Do you play any instruments?” Sehun, a kitten hybrid, asks.

 

“Yeah, I play guitar and I sing a little.”

 

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Baekhyun exclaims from across the table where he’s curled up with his boyfriend Chanyeol, both fox hybrids and glued at the hip.

 

“You should play something for us sometime!” Minseok says.

 

“Yeah, sure.”

 

Soon enough, dinner ends and Taeil escapes into the hall with Sicheng to avoid any more interaction.

 

“You did a good job, hyung,” Sicheng praises him, trying to rub his back encouragingly even though he’s not used to initiating physical affection.

 

Taeil just laughs and hangs his head.

 

“I’m serious. Everybody loves you. You should talk more! I think you and Yixing would get along.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Taeil nods. “You wanna go up and watch Gravity Falls?”

 

“Uh, I think I’m actually going to hang out with Kun. Haven’t seen him in a while. Is that alright?”

 

“Oh. Sure. Yeah, have fun.”

 

“I’ll come see you again later, hyung.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Sicheng hugs him and then finds Kun and asks to play frisbee.

 

It’s grossly stereotypical, but it’s true. Puppy hybrids love playing frisbee. More than anything they just need the physical activity because they have more energy than other hybrids, and frisbee is a fun way to release that energy. They also have a huge backyard so it’s twice the fun.

 

They toss it around until they tire, and Kun cools down with a glass of water that Jungwoo fetched for him. Kun hugs Sicheng good bye before the younger puppy runs upstairs to take a shower. Then he goes to Taeil’s room to relax with him.

 

“Come in!” Taeil says before Sicheng even knocks on the door, able to smell him close by.

 

Sicheng walks in and crawls into bed with him, looking at what he was doing on the computer. Watching anime.

 

“You want to watch a movie or something?” Sicheng suggests.

 

“Sure, you have anything in mind?”

 

“Hm, let’s just watch a drama.”

 

“Okay.”

 

They look through the movies and settle on Murder on the Orient Express.

 

Sicheng gets up to turn the lights off and comes back to cuddle up to his wolf friend by wrapping his arms and legs around him. Taeil throws an arm around him and they settle in for the movie. Not even thirty minutes later, Sicheng finds it hard to keep his eyes open. The movie isn’t terribly engaging, and he’s exhausted. He tries to fight it for as long as he can, but he loses. Sleep takes him.

 

He wakes hours later to a quiet, dark room. He bolts up in bed and looks around, feels Taeil’s warm body next to him and remembers where he is. The wolf stirs awake and looks up at him with a frown.

 

“What time is it?” Sicheng asks groggily.

 

Taeil flips over in bed and grabs for his phone on the nightstand. “Two thirty-two.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Just stay in here,” Taeil whispers and tugs at his shirt for him to lay back down. Sicheng is a little surprised but lets himself be snuggled back under the warm covers into Taeil’s arms. “Night.”

 

“Good night, hyung.”

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng realizes just how close he and Taeil are when he begins to fall asleep in Taeil’s room every night, and the wolf never tries to wake him. He just turns the lights off and cuddles up to him, and gently puts him back to sleep if he wakes up confused in the middle of the night.

 

Taeil has been at the house for a month when Sicheng starts coming to his room every night after he gets ready, now intentionally falling asleep in his bed. After a week or so it becomes routine, and it feels wrong not to do it.

 

Taeil turns to him one night and asks, “Are we best friends?”

 

Sicheng has to think about that for a moment. He has to think about Kun, someone he had called his best friend until Taeil had moved in. Until he had spent almost every second of his day, waking and sleeping, with the wolf. So, “Yes, we are.”

 

Taeil smiles and pulls Sicheng closer to him and hugs him softly, and they fall asleep like that. He doesn't let him go all night.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng only ever needs to go to his room to dress himself or do certain homework assignments that necessitate a lot of focus. Still, he’ll run to Taeil’s room when he needs a break or has a question about something. Everything else he does in Taeil’s room. So, maybe Sicheng shouldn’t be surprised when Kun pulls him aside one evening and says something strange.

 

“How are things going with Taeil?” Kun asks.

 

Sicheng laughs at the oddly worded question. “Uh, good?”

 

“Like, what’s up with you two?” He wiggles his eyebrows.

 

“Ew, why are you doing that?”

 

Kun frowns and huffs. “What are you talking about?”

 

“What are _you_ talking about?”

 

“You and Taeil’s relationship.”

 

“Our friendship, you mean?”

 

“You’re dating… right?”

 

“Don’t you think I would’ve told you? What makes you think we’re dating?”

 

“We don’t see each other as much as we used to,” Kun shrugs, “I just figured it was because you were falling in love,” he wiggles his eyebrows and elbows Sicheng again.

 

“No! We’re just friends. Nothing like you’re suggesting.”

 

“Oh,” Kun’s eyes fall to the ground and he looks wondrously confused. “Then what do you guys do all day in his room?”

 

Sicheng scoffs. “We just hang out. I don’t know,” he shrugs. “You’re being kind of pervy.”

 

“I’m sorry, Sichengie. I was just convinced things were one way, and I guess they’re not.”

 

“What even made you think that?”

 

“I mean," Kun thinks for a second, "everyone thinks that. The whole house thinks you’re dating. Everyone talks about it.”

 

Sicheng’s jaw drops. “What?”

 

Kun leans forward to scout Sicheng’s scent. “You spend most of your time with him. You smell like him. You sleep in his room every night. Is that not a reasonable assumption?”

 

Sicheng just blinks and ponders everything Kun has just said. Okay, maybe it isn’t such an outrageous assumption. He can’t smell himself that well but he had noticed that Taeil was starting to smell like lavender. That doesn’t usually happen to anyone but couples.

 

Kun tells everyone over the next few days that they were wrong. Sicheng and Taeil are not dating. Baekhyun and Chanyeol pout, because they thought they were a cute couple.

 

Kris the panther rolls his eyes and tells everyone they should’ve bet on it because he knew they weren’t dating. “There weren’t any bond bites.”

 

Yukhei shrugs, “I thought they were taking things slow.”

 

“Slow?” Taehyung exclaims. “They’ve known each other for a month and they sleep together every night.”

 

“But they’re friends,” Yuta frowns.

 

“Are they?” Taehyung raises his eyebrows. “Maybe they’re keeping it from us.”

 

“Sicheng wouldn’t do that. He would tell me,” Kun says.

 

“Maybe they don’t even know they’re dating,” Taehyung says.

 

Everyone just looks at him and shrugs.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

The house only becomes more convinced that they’re dating as the weeks go by and they grow closer.

 

Taeil and Sicheng are inseparable. One is never seen without the other. Sicheng without Taeil is a rare sight, and Taeil without Sicheng is an even rarer sight.

 

“Did you know people think we’re dating?” Sicheng says one evening when a silence falls upon him and the wolf.

 

“What?” Taeil frowns. “Why would they think that?”

 

“I know, right? It’s so weird. I think it’s just because we spend a lot of time together.”

 

“Does everyone think that?”

 

“Apparently. But I told them we weren’t.”

 

“What did they say?”

 

“Well, I only told Kun but he told the rest of the house. He looked really surprised, though.”

 

“That’s kinda funny.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Sicheng knows not everyone believes him, and he doesn’t feel particularly compelled to convince them. It’s not really a problem. But, it does make him realize that he spends a lot less time with his friends than he used to. Taeil takes up most of his time, and he doesn’t mind but he knows he should reach out to some people.

 

He makes it a point the next day to spend as much one-on-one time as he can with his closest friends, Kun, Jaehyun, and Yuta. He plays soccer with Kun, cooks with Jaehyun, and lounges around and talks with Yuta. Yuta can sense Sicheng’s exhaustion, so he gives him a massage and then sends him to bed with a hug and a kiss. Sicheng goes up to take a shower and doesn’t smell Taeil in his room so he goes to his room and passes out once his head hits the pillow.

 

Around 11pm, Taeil walks by Sicheng’s room and sees that his lights are off. Just as he had guessed, Sicheng is sound asleep in his bed, his sharp features illuminated by the light from the hallway. Taeil closes the door and turns his phone on to help guide him to the bed. He slips in as quietly as he can and wraps himself around the puppy. Minutes later, he feels the other boy take a deep breath in and turn onto his back, grabbing his arm.

 

“Hyung?” Sicheng says and it sounds like a whimper.

 

“Yeah, sorry to wake you,” Taeil whispers.

 

“What are you doing in here?”

 

“You fell asleep early.”

 

Sicheng sighs and sits up in bed, reaching for his phone on the nightstand. He looks at the time. _11:08pm_. He groans.

 

The light from Sicheng’s phone allows Taeil to see him rubbing his eyes and his furry ears twitching. It’s endearing how sleepy he is. Sicheng scrolls through his phone and Taeil feels ignored so he sits up and scoots closer to him, wrapping an arm over his hip and resting his chin on his shoulder to watch him scrolling through his Instagram feed.

 

“You know we don’t have to sleep together every night.” There’s an ounce of hesitation in Sicheng’s voice.

 

“I had a bad day," Taeil frowns. "And if we don’t sleep together every night then you won’t smell like me.”

 

“Aw, I’m sorry. What happened?” Sicheng responds before processing the second part of what he said.

 

“Barely got to see you,” Taeil mutters and nuzzles into his neck. “And you smell weird,” he huffs, pulling their bodies closer together.

 

Sicheng’s nerves are set on edge. Why does he care about his scent so much?

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean you smell like someone else… Probably because you were with them instead of me.”

 

Sicheng gulps and he loses his focus, finds himself staring blankly at one picture on his Instagram feed. “I just hung out with some friends. Kun, Yuta, and Jaehyun,” he says with a small voice, anticipating Taeil’s response.

 

“Where was I?”

 

“I think you were in your room.”

 

“And you didn’t come see me?”

 

“Because I was with other people for most of the day.”

 

“That doesn’t make sense,” Taeil pouts.

 

Sicheng frowns in confusion, shuts his phone off and sits up, pulling Taeil’s arms off of him. He turns the bedside lamp on. “What do you mean?”

 

“I just missed you, Sicheng. Am I not allowed to miss you?”

 

“That’s not what I think…” He turns around to face Taeil, whose eyes are wide and pitiful. He holds the wolf’s hands in his and looks into his eyes as he speaks to him. “Is everything okay, hyung?”

 

“I’m sorry… I think I’m getting a little territorial. And I know that sounds weird. You’re not my territory. I don’t know… I really really missed you today. Haven’t been without you since I got here, so it was weird,” he sighs, pulling Sicheng’s arm to make him move closer to him. Sicheng obliges, although he doesn’t understand exactly where Taeil wants him. The wolf guides the puppy in between his legs and he wraps his arms around him.

 

“I missed you too, you know,” Sicheng says as he rests his head by Taeil’s neck and takes in his scent. It’s a mixture of their scents, and that makes Sicheng feel calm and warm. “And it’s okay if you’re territorial. I get that way, too. A lot of hybrids get that way.”

 

“Then why aren’t you that way?”

 

“Cause you don’t hang out with anyone but me, silly.” Sicheng pinches his ribs and tickles him, and the wolf gasps, trying to grab Sicheng’s hands and stop him. Sicheng lets up and they relax into each other again. “We just have to talk about these things.”

 

“Okay,” Taeil says, pressing a kiss to Sicheng’s neck. Sicheng smiles. “That’s what best friends do.”

 

“Yes,” Sicheng agrees, turning his head and kissing Taeil’s neck too. “Be careful with that term, though. My friends might not understand. We’ve known each other for barely a month. I don’t think they realize how close we are.”

 

“But we are best friends, right?”

 

“Right,” Sicheng says. “I’m closer with you than anyone else in the house.”

 

“Really?” An enormous grin appears on Taeil’s face.

 

“Of course.” Sicheng gushes. “We spend all our time together.”

 

Taeil just looks into his eyes and chuckles softly, then hugs him really tight. “I love you,” he says into Sicheng’s neck.

 

Sicheng chuckles. “I love you too.”

 

Taeil leans back and they look at each other again, blushing because it’s the first time they’ve exchanged those words.

 

“Feels like so much longer than a month.”

 

“I know,” Sicheng agrees. “It’s because you’re special,” he teases, poking Taeil’s cheek. The wolf giggles and playfully tries to bite his finger.

 

The two friends chat until they’re sleepy, and then lay down to rest for the night.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng and Taeil continue their routine. Riding the train together every week day to school, hand in hand and listening to a playlist one of them made for the other. Walking to campus and parting with a hug. Meeting up for Vietnamese food if they can, or trying street food and walking around the Han River during the gaps between classes. At the end of the day, they either grab dinner at a new restaurant or ride home on the train and eat dinner at home. And then they spend the rest of their evening doing homework or watching cartoons or anime, and then fall asleep together, usually in Taeil’s room. Taeil was so upset that one night Sicheng fell asleep without him, Sicheng decided then that he’d never let the wolf sleep alone again.

 

The rest of the house watches curiously, every morning scanning their necks and looking for any sign of bond bites. But, it never happens. They become even more perplexed when Mark spreads it around that he saw Taeil and Sicheng walking out of the bathroom together, their hair wet and towels around their waists, implying that they had showered together, and that he and Minseok had seen this multiple times.

 

“It’s not nice to gossip about people. Especially your friends,” Kun interjects.

 

“It’s not gossip,” Mark says defensively, “I’m just reporting facts. We’re all curious.”

 

“You know we could just ask them,” Minseok says.

 

“I already did,” Kun says.

 

“Maybe something has changed,” Taehyung raises his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“Sicheng would have told me. You guys can stop speculating now,” Kun puts the conversation to rest.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Taeil decides to branch out and try and make some other friends besides just Sicheng. He’s been at the house for well over a month now, and his interactions beyond Sicheng have consisted of polite conversation and nothing more. He approaches Ten, a slim, silver haired kitten one day, and they get into a passionate conversation about their shared love of Thai food.

 

“I can show you how to make something one day if you’d like? I’ve got all kinds of recipes in my head,” Ten offers.

 

“Really? Yeah, I’d love that.”

 

“Actually, I offered to cook dinner tonight so maybe I could show you now? I know everyone’s going to start griping soon about how hungry they are.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’d love that. What do you want to make?” Taeil asks.

 

Ten gets up from his seat in the living room and Taeil follows him to the kitchen. “How does Gaeng Keow Wan Gai sound?”

 

“Oh, I just had that the other week.”

 

“Perfect. I’ll show you how to make it,” Ten smiles and starts pulling out ingredients and announcing them as he does so. It’s a green curry chicken, so the chicken takes a long time to make. He makes sure to tell Taeil each measurement and direction, and Taeil makes sure to write it all down. Taeil helps Ten prepare ingredients and keep an eye on the food while it’s cooking. He also sets the table and makes servings for everyone. Ten calls for dinner and everyone rushes to the kitchen and thanks him and Taeil for the delicious smelling food.

 

Sicheng walks in and is pleasantly surprised to see Taeil handing out bowls. Then he spots Yuta and he skips up to the lion with a big grin on his face.

 

“Hey, you.” Yuta bumps his shoulder.

 

“Hi, hyung,” Sicheng blushes, questioning why everything Yuta says always makes him blush.

 

“You look cute,” the lion smirks, pinching the fabric of the sweatpants he’s wearing.

 

Sicheng just shakes his head and leans into the other hybrid, and Yuta grabs his hand to hold.

 

“We should volunteer to make dinner tomorrow. I haven’t seen you much this week.”

 

“Oh,” Sicheng pulls back from the lion, “what do you want to make?”

 

“Anything you want to learn how to make? I know a lot of stuff, I could teach you whatever you want to know.”

 

“Um, do you know how to make tteokbokki?”

 

“Sure do. You want me to teach you?”

 

“Sure, yeah.”

 

“It’s a date.”

 

Sicheng rolls his eyes and playfully pushes at him.

 

Taeil can smell Sicheng in the room. He looks around and spots him with the lion towards the end of the line, holding hands and swinging their arms. Taeil can’t stop staring. He doesn’t know why, he’s just confused by the sight. He continues handing out bowls to everyone, until about the end of the line when he quickly fills up the bowls and sets them on the counter for anyone to take. He grabs two for Sicheng and himself, and nods him over. Sicheng walks up to him and is about to take a bowl but Taeil stops him.

 

“Wash your hands first, pup,” Taeil says.

 

Sicheng pouts and washes and dries his hands quickly, then walks back to Taeil and takes the bowl.

 

“Did you cook, hyung?”

 

“Ten did most of it.”

 

“It smells yummy,” he says and puts his nose by the green creation.

 

They sit down together in the dining room and dig in. Everyone thanks Ten and Taeil a million times over for the food.

 

“I didn’t know you could cook, Taeil!” Taehyung exclaims.

 

“Ten did most of the work. I just helped,” the wolf shrugs, earning a coy smile from Ten.

 

“He’s a man of many talents,” Sicheng says, rubbing his back and looking at him proudly.

 

Sicheng and Taeil settle in for the night in Taeil’s room, and Sicheng has something to address with him once the door closes.

 

“Hyung, why did you ask me to wash my hands before dinner?” Sicheng asks with a slightly amused tone and a smirk on his face.

 

Taeil frowns and sits on the bed. “Because we were about to eat, and Ten and I had just been slaving away in the kitchen for over an hour making dinner.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, it took way longer than I thought it would.”

 

Sicheng looks at him with narrowed eyes, suspicious of the way he curbed the question. “So, you didn’t see me and Yuta holding hands?”

 

Taeil gulps. “I mean, yeah, I saw.”

 

“Did it upset you?”

 

Taeil stares at him blankly. “No.”

 

“So, that’s not why you asked me to wash my hands?”

 

Taeil knows he’s been caught. He just scoffs and rolls his eyes, carding his hands through his hair like Sicheng’s question riled him up that much.

 

“You know I’m right,” Sicheng teases.

 

“No, I was looking out for you! Everybody thinks we’re dating so if you hold hands with Yuta then they’ll think you two are dating.”

 

“Really? That’s what you were thinking?” Sicheng walks up to him and holds his face in his hands. Taeil looks down to avoid Sicheng’s gaze. It’s silent for a few moments.

 

“Okay, I was upset,” the wolf mutters, and his voice is barely audible but Sicheng can guess what he’s saying.

 

“Hyung, no,” Sicheng sighs and sits down beside him, looping his arms around his neck. “Why were you upset?”

 

“I wanted you to talk to _me_ and hold _my_ hand,” he sighs, still unable to make eye contact with the puppy. “Hadn’t seen you all day.”

 

“I’m here now,” Sicheng speaks softly to him, nudging his cheek with his nose. That gets Taeil’s attention. He looks at the puppy with a slight pout still on his face. “And we can talk all you want and I’ll hold both of your hands,” the puppy grins and takes the wolves hands in his own. “I love you,” Sicheng whispers and kisses his cheeks.

 

“I love you too,” Taeil says, a small smile erasing his pout.

 

Sicheng doesn’t worry about Taeil. He’s just territorial and they’ve discussed it. Yuta is a harmless lion and Taeil is jealous for a silly reason.

 

“You need to socialize more,” Sicheng says as they’re crawling in bed later that night. “You might not be so territorial if I wasn’t your only focus.”

 

“You’re not my only focus,” Taeil frowns.

 

“I’m one of them.”

 

“Okay… fine.”

 

“It’s not a bad thing. I’m just saying you might benefit from making some more friends. Ten likes you! Yixing thinks you’re cool. And y'know what? I think you and Yuta would get along really well.”

 

“Okay,” Taeil groans.

 

“Okay?”

 

“I’ll try.”

 

“Great.”

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng and Yuta make dinner the next night. Yuta refuses to let the puppy look up a recipe and cheat. He guides him through every step with lots of patience and encouragement, which Sicheng really needs but it also makes him shy.

 

“Good puppy,” Yuta praises the puppywhen he sees how thoroughly he mixes the pot of broth. Sicheng’s face reddens and he curls in on himself. Yuta knows what he’s done but he still acts clueless, standing behind him and placing his hands on his hips as he leans in by his ear. “What is it?” He whispers, trying to hold back a smirk.

 

“Don’t call me that,” Sicheng blushes and turns his face away from the lion.

 

“Don’t call you what?” Yuta just moves his face to the other side, and Sicheng is too embarrassed to move.

 

“You know,” the younger boy mutters.

 

“What, you don’t want me to tell you how good you are? You’re so good, how could I not?” Yuta teases, running his hands up and down the boy’s sides.

 

Sicheng is bright red now. He shakes his head and tries to focus on the food but it’s so hard, with Yuta’s hands holding his waist and smoothing over his abdomen every minute or so, their faces close as Yuta watches what he’s doing over his shoulder, whispering encouraging things in his ear even when it isn’t necessary, kissing his cheeks and even pressing one kiss a bit too close to his bond bite. Sicheng almost chokes when that happens, and he has to step to the side to clear his throat. And there Yuta is, pulling him back in and smiling at him so smugly.

 

Yuta insists they sit next to each other at dinner, and the table fills up before Taeil gets there so they have to sit apart. Yuta has his arm around Sicheng the whole time, and while it isn’t the strangest thing, Sicheng tries to remember a time when the lion was so affectionate. They’ve always had a sort of back and forth banter and light flirtation every now and then, but Yuta has never been so touchy. Sicheng chalks it up to Yuta missing him.

 

Taeil reaches out to Yixing after dinner and they spend an hour or so talking about music and sharing snippets of lyrics they’ve written. Sehun comes to collect Yixing for bed, though, so Taeil decides to sniff out Sicheng and get ready for sleep.

 

Sicheng’s scent is coming from the third floor, Taeil concludes after some searching. He makes his way up there and pinpoints it to the library. What he sees is not what he was expecting when he realized there was another scent mixing with Sicheng’s, one that smells like cream and jasmine.

 

Taeil opens the library door to see Yuta standing by the wall of books, his arms wrapped around Sicheng whose small ears are peeking out near his shoulder. They’re cuddling.

 

Taeil can hear Yuta speaking softly to him as they sway. Taeil feels a pang of jealousy almost knock him down. A scowl grows on his face when he hears Sicheng’s shy giggle. He tries with all his might to push it away when he sees the dog hybrid moving away from Yuta and looking towards him.

 

“Hyung!” Sicheng waves from across the enormous library.

 

Taeil nods. “You coming down?”

 

“Yeah, in a bit.”

 

Taeil nods and walks back to his room, sitting on his bed and anxiously waiting for Sicheng. He’s tired and feels ignored and he just wants Sicheng to give him cuddles while they talk about their day together.

 

It must be ten minutes before he hears a knock at the door and his ears perk up just as Sicheng walks into the room with a smile. He closes the door behind him and approaches Taeil.

 

“Are you okay?” Sicheng asks with a worried look on his face.

 

Only then does Taeil realize that he’s pouting and furrowing his eyebrows. He shrugs.

 

Taeil nods and scoots to the edge of the bed so the puppy can reach him to give him a big, warm hug. Sicheng holds onto him tight, and Taeil buries his face in his neck, only to be met with a foreign scent. He tries to ignore it but it’s strong.

 

Sicheng leans back after a few moments. “What’s wrong?” He asks, smoothing his hand over Taeil’s hair and playing with his scruffy ears. Taeil leans into Sicheng’s chest.

 

“I didn’t know you were so close with Yuta.”

 

Sicheng frowns in confusion. “Is that why you’re upset?”

 

“Do you want to spend less time together?” Taeil looks up at him.

 

“No? Do you?” There’s a hint of worry in Sicheng’s voice.

 

“No, of course not.”

 

“Do you think I do?”

 

“Well, you talk to all these people you’re not really even close to so I just thought that m-maybe you don’t want to spend as much time with me anymore.”

 

“Yuta and I were really close before you moved here. But you and I spend so much time together now that I haven’t been able to talk to him that much recently, so you probably wouldn’t know that. I love spending time with you, hyung. I was just catching up with him because it’s been a while.”

 

“Oh. I’m-I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

 

“It’s okay. I know how you get. But, why on Earth would I want to spend less time with you? You’re my best friend. Please don’t ever forget that.”

 

Taeil blushes and hides his face in Sicheng’s neck, clinging to him and laughing giddily. “You mean it?” He asks, and when Sicheng nods he gives him a kiss on the cheek.

 

“You know you can hang out with me anytime, even if I’m with someone else. You might not feel so alone that way.”

 

“I don’t like new people.” Taeil shows a look of resistance.

 

“I was new to you almost two months ago!”

 

“But you’re different.”

 

“How am I different?”

 

“You’re… you’re you. I don’t know. I can’t really explain why we clicked so fast.”

 

“What if you just tried once?”

 

“I did try. Today. I talked to Yixing.”

 

“How did it go?”

 

“It was good. We talked about music and stuff. He’s cool.”

 

“That’s great! You just need to keep it up now.”

 

The wolf rolls his eyes playfully.

 

“Do you want to go bed now?” Sicheng asks.

 

Taeil almost says yes but then he remembers something. “Um, yeah, but… do you want to shower first?”

 

“You can but I showered like two hours ago.”

 

“Yeah, but…” Taeil can’t finish, he just bites his lip and juts his head forward, expecting Sicheng to figure it out.

 

The dog hybrid blinks. “Are you serious?”

 

Taeil doesn’t answer. An awkward few moments pass by before Sicheng stands.

 

“Come on then,” the puppy says, walking to the bathroom. Taeil eagerly follows him, grabbing his towel on the way and waiting for Sicheng to get his towel from his room down the hallway.

 

They shower together, and Taeil makes sure Sicheng is extra thorough with his soap and loofah so they can get rid of all unwanted scents. When they’re dry and ready to dress, Sicheng begins making his way down the hallway to his own room, but Taeil pulls him the other way to his room. Sicheng squeaks in surprise but follows him anyway.

 

Taeil pulls Sicheng by the hand to his closet, and picks out a soft t-shirt and a pair of boxers. He hands them to his hybrid friend.

 

“You’re serious?” Sicheng raises his eyebrows.

 

“You wear my clothes all the time.”

 

Sicheng sighs and hands them back to Taeil to hold, while he drops his towel and changes into the clothes. He crawls into bed and waits for Taeil to dress. Taeil crawls in too, now dressed in his pajamas and they cuddle up.

 

“Goodnight,” Taeil mutters and thoughtlessly presses a kiss to Sicheng’s lips. It’s quick and light and Sicheng barely even feels it, but it’s a kiss nonetheless. Taeil covers his mouth with his hand and chuckles nervously. “Sorry, I just-I just felt like doing that… Is that weird?”

 

Sicheng chuckles too, amused by his friend’s embarrassment. “I guess not.”

 

“Is it okay with you?”

 

“Sure, it’s okay. It’s cute.”

 

Taeil grins and lays his head down to sleep.

 

“Goodnight,” Sicheng whispers.

 

“Goodnight. I love you, puppy.”

 

“Love you too.”

 

It wasn’t unusual to see friends kissing in the house. Not everyone did it, only the closest of friends, and only the more domestic of animals like kittens and puppies. Taehyung and Minho often pecked lips when greeting each other or bidding each other farewell. No one batted an eye at the show of affection. They were close and they were both puppies. It made sense.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

The next day at breakfast, Sicheng checks the time and realizes he needs to leave soon if he wants to be on time for some plans he made with a fellow classmate. He takes a few more bites of his breakfast and puts his dishes in the dishwasher.

 

“Are you leaving?” Taeil asks.

 

“Yeah,” Sicheng sighs. “I’ve got that project, remember? I’ll see you later,” he hugs the wolf from the side, and when he pulls back Taeil puckers his lips at him. Sicheng hesitates a moment before realizing what the wolf is gesturing for him to do. He leans in and presses a soft kiss to his lips, pulling back with a smile.

 

“See you later, Sichengie.” Taeil sends him off with a smile.

 

Taeil isn’t there when Sicheng returns home. Sicheng checks his phone and sees that Taeil texted him and said he was heading into the city with Ten. So, Sicheng has to find something to do to pass the time before his friend gets back. He's walking up the stairs when Kun calls for him from the first floor.

 

“Want to play frisbee in the backyard?”

 

They toss the frisbee back and forth for half an hour, rolling around and tackling each other playfully. Some hybrids watch for their own entertainment. Kun and Sicheng don’t mind, they just act even goofier to make everyone laugh. They’re sweaty and gross by the time they finish, so they shower together to wash away the grime from their bodies.

 

Sicheng had considered Kun his best friend before Taeil moved into the house, and still considered him one of his best friends, but he didn’t dare say anything like that to Taeil because it'd be sure to make him jealous. He regretted not spending as much time with his fellow dog hybrid, but he didn’t feel too bad because they were still very close and he had noticed that Kun spent more time with Jungwoo now. He only realized how much he missed him when he was shampooing his friend’s hair and trying to remember when the last time they had done this was.

 

The puppies curl up on the couch after their shower and watch TV. When Taeil gets home he can smell Sicheng in the living room, and he frowns when his eyes are met with the sight of the two dog hybrids cuddling.

 

“Hi, Sichengie,” he says, expecting a hug or something similar.

 

Sicheng looks at him and smiles. “Hi, hyung, how was your day?”

 

“Mine was good. What about yours?”

 

“Mine was great! Kun and I played frisbee,” he beams.

 

Taeil nods. “You hungry?”

 

“No, we already ate.”

 

He nods again and walks out of the room. Sicheng focuses back on the TV.

 

“He looked upset. Is he okay?” Kun asks.

 

Sicheng looks towards the doorway where Taeil had just been and shrugs. “He gets jealous. He’s fine.”

 

“Oh, Jungwoo gets jealous too. It’s actually kind of weird though cause he gets _really_ jealous, like throws a fit.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

Kun nods.

 

“Have you talked to him about it?”

 

“I never know what to say when it happens. I always feel so guilty and I just try and comfort him until he calms down.”

 

“Maybe just bring it up really casually. Or the next time he does it ask him why he’s so upset.”

 

Kun nods. “Sure, I’ll try that... You should too.”

 

Sicheng laughs nervously and shakes it off.

 

The show they’re watching ends, and Sicheng decides to go check on Taeil. Kun goes up to check on Jungwoo.

 

Taeil is in his room, looking at his phone with a frown stuck to his face. He sits up when Sicheng walks in.

 

“Did you see my texts?” Taeil asks.

 

“Oh,” Sicheng mutters, pulling out his phone, “No, I’m sorry.” Sicheng looks at his phone, seeing a few unread texts from Taeil.

 

_can you please come upstairs_

 

_I don’t feel good sichengie :(_

 

_Baby :(((_

 

“Aw, what’s wrong?” Sicheng rushes to him and checks his forehead for a fever, feels his glands to see if they’re swollen. “Are you sick?”

 

“My stomach hurts,” the wolf pouts.

 

“Do you need medicine?”

 

Taeil nods and Sicheng runs downstairs to get some Pepto Bismol. He rushes back upstairs with a tablet and a glass of water. He places the tablet on Taeil’s tongue and watches him chew it. He hands the glass of water to Taeil and makes sure he takes a few sips.

 

“Thank you, Chengie,” Taeil hugs him and rests his head on his chest. They hug for a couple minutes before Taeil moves his face near Sicheng’s neck and huffs. Sicheng doesn’t even have to ask what that’s about.

 

“Kun and I already took a shower. I’m not going to take another one,” Sicheng sighs and is startled when Taeil pulls away from him with a frown.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I have dry skin! I’m not going to take—”

 

“No, what do you mean by you and _Kun_ already took a shower?”

 

“We showered together,” Sicheng shrugs.

 

“What? Like at the same time?”

 

“Yes, hyung, at the same time. You and I do it together almost every day.”

 

Taeil pouts, and not like he usually does. Not like he’s trying to be cute, like he’s genuinely upset and Sicheng is worried all of a sudden.

 

“Don’t be jealous,” Sicheng laughs, caressing Taeil’s cheeks. But then Taeil’s face falls and so does Sicheng’s. “Why are you jealous, hyung?”

 

Taeil pushes his hands away and looks even more upset than before. “Because you already showered but you still smell like someone else and now we won’t get to shower together and my stomach hurts. Ten and I ate some weird food.”

 

Taeil is really upset, Sicheng realizes. He leans down so that they’re face to face and pecks his lips which makes the wolf’s ears perk up very cutely.

 

“I’ll shower with you, okay? But I’m not washing my hair again.”

 

“Do you want to take a bath instead?” Taeil asks.

 

“Sure, why not?”

 

Taeil leads Sicheng to the bathroom and runs a bubble bath for the two of them. He scrubs Sicheng’s skin as gently as he can while still being thorough enough to rid the puppy of any foreign scents. And he offers his clothes in place of Sicheng’s own when it’s time to get dressed. Sicheng rolls his eyes but complies with Taeil’s requests.

 

Taeil clings to him for the rest of the night, trying to limit his physical contact with anyone else so that they won’t have to shower again. Kun smiles at Sicheng from across the table, and Sicheng smiles back, sees Jungwoo wrapped so tightly around him that they have to sit in the same chair. Jungwoo notices the puppy staring and he turns to Kun and whimpers against his neck. Kun has to kiss his forehead and rub his back for a few minutes before he stops whining and calms down. Kun eventually has to take him upstairs, and Sicheng watches them go, hoping that they can work everything out. He feels grateful that Taeil isn’t that jealous or needy.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

“How are things with Jungwoo?” Sicheng asks Kun the next day when they’re alone.

 

Kun begins to nod slowly like he’s about to say something big. “I talked to him last night.”

 

“Oh? What happened?”

 

Kun looks up, his eyes slightly widened.

 

“What?” Sicheng frowns.

 

“He kissed me.”

 

“What? Really? Did you like it?”

 

“I mean… I kissed him back. So, yeah. I did.”

 

“Oh my gosh! Did you talk after?”

 

“Yeah, he told me he liked me and he didn’t want to share me.”

 

“Wow. He must really like you considering he waited this long to tell you. Kitties are usually so blunt.” Sicheng shakes his head in disbelief.

 

“I know, right? It was kinda hot, though… He was so demanding.”

 

“Look at you, Kun.” Sicheng playfully pushes at his shoulder. “Got yourself a kitten. Meanwhile I’m still single.”

 

“You don’t have to be.” Kun tilts his head forward.

 

“Who am I going to date?”

 

Kun gives him a look like it’s obvious.

 

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

 

“I didn’t say anything!” Kun raises his hands to show his innocence. “If it’s that obvious to you, then… my work here is done.”

 

“I don’t like him like that! We are strictly friends. Nothing else has ever happened.”

 

“There has to be a reason why he’s jealous. Jungwoo was clearly jealous for a reason, and not a friendly one.”

 

“Yeah, well, Taeil is a wolf.”

 

“And? You act like they’re some alien species with an entirely different set of behaviors.”

 

“I’ve done my research. I know what’s normal and what’s not.”

 

“Every hybrid gets territorial. Maybe he’s just using your lack of knowledge to his advantage.”

 

“Kun, you don’t even know him. He’s a sweetheart. He wouldn’t do that.”

 

“Nobody really knows him except for you.” Kun looks wary, like he knows what he’s saying might be offensive.

 

“Okay, then trust me because I know him. He’s a big teddy bear. All he ever wants to do is cuddle and watch anime. Ever heard of a wolf like that?”

 

“No, actually. I think that’s why everyone was convinced you guys were dating.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Ever heard of an imprint?”

 

Sicheng blinks, remembering a section about imprints on the Wikipedia page he was reading. “Yeah, but I don’t really understand them.”

 

“A wolf imprints on someone when they feel the need to protect them. It manifests as a hypersensitivity to their scent and, for lack of a better word, clinginess. Sound like anyone you know?”

 

Kun is convincing but some part of him is hesitant to accept it because it seems too obvious. Why wouldn’t Taeil say anything?

 

“Do wolves know when they’ve imprinted?”

 

“Yeah, it’s usually pretty obvious. Maybe he just doesn’t want to tell you.”

 

“That’s assuming he’s imprinted on me.”

 

“You should ask him.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, I think that’s your best option. Just see how he reacts.”

 

Sicheng nods. “Well, I’ll make sure to tell you what happens.”

 

Later that night, after Sicheng and Taeil have showered and they’re settling in for bed, Sicheng decides to ask the question. His tail wags timidly, and his ears twitch but he tries his best to just keep everything still and look calm.

 

“What’s an imprint?” Sicheng blurts out as Taeil lays down.

 

Taeil looks at him. “An imprint? Uh, it’s like a one way link to someone. Sort of. Why do you ask?”

 

“I just want to know more about them. I saw it online but it was confusing.”

 

“Well, what do you want to know?” Taeil throws an arm over Sicheng and the puppy scoots closer to him.

 

“How does it happen? And what are the different kinds?”

 

“Let’s see, there are romantic and platonic imprints. And it can happen in a lot of different situations, like if a friend goes through a traumatic event, or two people are in love with each other and one imprints on the other. Or if there’s a long term relationship and things have come to a standstill then one person can imprint on the other to sort of insure that they’ll breed. And lots more situations but those are all pretty common.”

 

“Oh,” Sicheng mutters, sighing against the wolf’s chest and reflecting on all that he’s just heard.

 

“Does it make more sense now?”

 

“A little bit, yeah.”

 

“Good.”

 

“I have another question, hyung.”

 

“Hm?”

 

Sicheng sits up a bit and shyly looks at Taeil. He can’t believe he’s about to ask this and he’s so nervous he can feel his ears flattening against his head. Taeil notices and frowns, petting his head and trying to relax him.

 

“Are you imprinted on me?” His voice is small and he can barely look at the wolf. He doesn’t even know why he’s so scared.

 

“On you?” Taeil smirks. “No, baby, I would’ve told you.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Did you think I was?” Taeil pets the puppy and lifts his chin so that they’re looking at each other again.

 

“Kun just said some stuff,” Sicheng mumbles with a shrug.

 

“What did he say?”

 

“He just mentioned some stuff about imprints and said it sounds like you.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like… hypersensitivity to my scent, and you know how you want to be with me all the time?”

 

Taeil turns pensive, and he frowns for a few moments as he processes everything. “Well, that’s just cause we’re close. I don’t know what an imprint feels like but from what I’ve heard it’s supposed to be very obvious. So, I don’t think that’s the case here.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Anything else you want to ask me?” Taeil squeezes his side and kisses his cheek.

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

“I’m glad you asked me about it.”

 

Sicheng nods.

 

“Are you ready for bed?”

 

He nods again.

 

Taeil turns off the bedside lamp and rolls over to pull Sicheng close, wrapping his arms around him and kissing the top of his head.

 

“I love you,” he whispers. He feels Sicheng go still for a moment.

 

But then the puppy twists around with a big grin on his face and he presses a kiss to Taeil’s lips.

 

“I love you, too,” he says.

 

“Goodnight, baby.”

 

“Goodnight.”

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Weeks fly by, and Taeil grows closer to the friends he’s made in the house, Ten and Yixing. He grows closer to Sicheng. And the house is still convinced that they’re dating.

 

Yuta catches Sicheng searching through the fridge one night. Sicheng smells him before he sees him, and he closes the door to see the lion hybrid walking into the kitchen with a grin. He smiles back.

 

“Hi, hyung,” Sicheng says softly.

 

“Hi, Sichengie,” Yuta says, and something about the way he’s grinning makes Sicheng blush. What’s new?

 

Sicheng smiles at him wordlessly for a few moments, and Yuta chuckles.

 

“How have you been?”

 

“I’ve been good. You?”

 

“Good,” Yuta nods. “We should catch up. Do you wanna go sit in the living room?”

 

“Okay,” Sicheng agrees and follows the lion into the other room. They sit on the couch and Sicheng asks Yuta how school has been.

 

“School’s good. I’ve been looking at lots of internships for after I graduate and some of them could lead to job opportunities so it’s been exciting,” Yuta informs him.

 

“Aw, that’s great! That’s really exciting, I’m happy for you,” Sicheng rubs his shoulder.

 

“And… you and Taeil? How is that?”

 

Sicheng stares at him for a few moments and chuckles, shaking his head. “We’re not together.”

 

“Oh, you aren’t? Everyone seems to think otherwise.”

 

“I don’t know why. We’re just friends. Nothing has ever happened.”

 

“Ever?” Yuta pushes with a smirk.

 

“Never ever,” Sicheng playfully hits his arm and the lion snickers.

 

“Okay, okay. Anyone at school you wanna tell me about? I’m sure someone has caught your eye.”

 

“No,” Sicheng sighs, “you know there are so many humans at school but I always get so shy around them. I’d really like to be someone’s but I just don’t know anyone.”

 

“I’m sure there are tons of people in this very house that would love to have you.”

 

“No way! Don’t say that,” Sicheng blushes so profusely that he has to hide his face in his hands.

 

“It’s true. You just wouldn’t know because you’re always with Taeil.”

 

Sicheng gives him a shocked and unimpressed look.

 

“Not a bad thing,” Yuta shrugs, “just the truth.”

 

Sicheng nods in agreement. There’s no denying the amount of time he spends with the wolf hybrid.

 

“You’re a good puppy, and you’re so cute. I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

 

Sicheng blushes but at the same time his eyes brighten and his ears perk up, eager to listen. “You think so?”

 

“Yeah. You can’t tell me you don’t know how cute you are,” Yuta smirks.

 

“Oh… I meant- you really think I’m a good puppy?”

 

Yuta giggles softly at the puppy so eager for praise. “Yes, of course. You’re hardworking, and you’re so kind to everyone. You brighten everyone’s day with just a smile. You’re so well behaved and polite. Anyone would be lucky to have you,” the lion says, and reaches a hand out to pet behind the dog’s ears.

 

Sicheng blushes deeply and shyly nuzzles into the lion’s hand. He also scoots a little closer to him. “Thank you, hyung… and, what about you?”

 

“What about me?” Yuta smiles and continues playing with Sicheng’s ears, making the puppy scoot even closer to him for more pats and scruffs.

 

“Any hybrids that have caught your eye?”

 

“Eh,” he shrugs. “I’m too friendly. I make friends with people and then they can’t see me in a romantic way.”

 

“So you like other hybrids as well?” Sicheng wonders with his wide eyes and furrowed brows.

 

“Of course I do,” Yuta chuckles.

 

“What kinds?”

 

“I like puppies.” He scratches behind Sicheng’s ear, and that makes the puppy giggle and nuzzle into his touch further.

 

“I’m a puppy,” Sicheng says shyly, trying to hide his face by Yuta’s arm but the lion just moves his arm to wrap around the puppy, forcing them to be face to face.

 

“I know you are,” Yuta says, his voice quieter because their faces are so close now.

 

“Does that mean you like me?”

 

“Sicheng.” A voice comes from behind them.

 

Sicheng whips around.

 

“Hyung?”

 

“Are you coming upstairs now? It’s time for bed.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“You ready?” Taeil urges.

 

Sicheng doesn’t respond, just looks back at Yuta who now has a pout on his face. He sighs and pats Yuta’s thigh.

 

“We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?” Sicheng reassures him, and they both stand to hug each other.

 

“Sure thing, Sichengie. Goodnight.”

 

“Night, hyung,” Sicheng bows and walks over to Taeil in the doorway who puts his arm around him and leads him upstairs.

 

“We’ve got to shower now,” Taeil says, and Sicheng doesn’t respond. They’re both tired of having the same conversation over and over again.

 

Except, when they’re standing there in the shower and Sicheng is conditioning his hair, trying to ignore the way Taeil keeps looking at him, Taeil says something Sicheng had been wishing he wouldn’t.

 

“You don’t want to lead him on,” Taeil says, cutting through the silence that usually settles upon them during their nighttime showers. It’s a time to relax and wash away the day, not argue. And now Sicheng wants to wash down the drain like the soapy water below them.

 

“What?” Sicheng frowns, tipping his head back to rinse the product from his hair. He squints so the conditioner doesn’t get in his eyes.

 

Taeil sighs, stepping in front of him and helping him rinse his hair. “Yuta. You don’t want to lead him on if he’s your friend.”

 

“I’m not leading him on. What are you talking about?” Sicheng steps back once he’s sure his hair is thoroughly rinsed.

 

“You were flirting with him.” Taeil’s gaze is unwavering and, quite frankly, very unsettling. He looks mad.

 

“No, I wasn’t.”

 

“C’mon, Sichengie. ‘ _You really think I’m a good puppy?_ ’” Taeil imitates his voice and Sicheng stands there in shock under the running water, wondering if what he’s hearing is real.

 

“Why were you listening?”

 

“I wasn’t listening in on purpose. I was just coming down to get you.”

 

“He’s just naturally flirty. He does that with everyone. I was just playing along, I guess. It’s not a big deal,” Sicheng shrugs, looking up at Taeil shyly and hoping that he made a good point. Taeil still looks mad.

 

“But, ‘ _I’m a puppy, does that mean you like me?_ ’” Taeil looks at him expectantly.

 

“Why are you being so mean?” Sicheng demands, his voice raised and his cheeks heating up. His eyes go a little wide once he realizes how angry he sounds, and his ears flatten against his head just moments later. But he realizes that he’s justifiably angry. Taeil is so possessive but claims there’s no imprint. If there’s no imprint then none of this should be a problem. His best friend should be encouraging. Sicheng feels a surge of bravery pulse through him. “I’m allowed to flirt with whoever I want. Yuta’s cute, I can’t really help myself.”

 

Taeil scoffs. “So you admit you were flirting with him.”

 

Sicheng shrugs with as much sass as he can muster up, not even bothering to look at the wolf anymore.

 

“If he flirts with everyone then why would you want him?”

 

“Because we’re close. We’ve always been like that,” Sicheng says, a hint of poison in his voice. Seeing Taeil’s reaction makes him want to make the other boy even angrier. Taeil doesn’t get to act like this with no excuse. “We used to flirt like that all the time before you got here. Kun and I even flirted sometimes. I’m just a flirty person, I guess.”

 

“No, you’re not,” Taeil frowns. “You’ve never flirted with me.”

 

“Well, then I guess that makes you the only person I haven’t flirted with,” Sicheng says half jokingly, and immediately after he swears he can see Taeil’s nostrils flaring but he doesn’t want to look for too long. He’s nervous now. Maybe he went a little too far. There’s something in Taeil’s eyes that make him flinch.

 

Taeil doesn’t answer, just turns the water off. They step out of the shower in silence, and dry off in silence, and walk to Taeil’s room in silence. And it’s become such a habit for Sicheng to wear his clothes after they shower that Sicheng does it without objection, even after the tense conversation they shared.

 

“I don’t want you to be mad at me,” Taeil says as Sicheng tries to walk to the bed, pulling him back and wrapping his arms around his waist in a back hug.

 

“I’m not- I’m not mad at you. I’m just frustrated,” Sicheng sighs, fighting the urge to pry Taeil’s hands off of him.

 

Taeil holds him tighter and buries his face in his neck, pressing kisses there and breathing in his scent. They stand there for a few minutes, Sicheng trying to focus on his breathing so he can calm down before bed.

 

“You still smell like him,” Taeil whispers emotionlessly.

 

Sicheng rolls his eyes. “Okay, well I’m not taking another shower.” He breaks away from Taeil’s embrace and sits on the edge of the bed, checking his phone.

 

Taeil sits beside him and wraps around him again. “Then what are you going to do?”

 

“What do you mean what am I going to do?”

 

“To stop smelling like other people.”

 

“I’ll keep taking showers before bed, like we’ve been doing.”

 

“Okay, but what about when you still smell?”

 

“I don’t know. Nothing?”

 

Taeil huffs by his ear.

 

“You should try to stop cuddling with other people. Yuta was cuddling you and petting you, that’s probably why it’s still there. And you should stop spending so much time with other people a few hours before bed… Okay?”

 

Sicheng doesn’t even know what to say. He feels words catching in his throat and he wants to spit them out, but he chokes. He feels the anger returning to him and all he can do is continue to scroll through Instagram to distract himself and avoid saying anything rash.

 

“Okay, Sichengie?”

 

“No. I’m not going to do any of that.”

 

Silence again. And for a very long time. Taeil lets go of Sicheng and just sits there while the puppy looks through his phone, trying to hold off going to bed for as long as he can because that means cuddling and things are very tense right now.

 

“What if I just bit you?” Taeil’s words pierce through the silence.

 

Sicheng’s heart skips a beat. “Bit me? Like…”

 

“Then you’d smell like me all the time and we wouldn’t have to worry about it fading away so quickly.”

 

“Hyung, I—”

 

“It doesn’t have to be sexual or romantic or anything like that. I can bite you without you on my knot.”

 

Sicheng’s eyes go wide and his cheeks burn into a hot pink shade. He’s so embarrassed he splutters and hides his face in his hands. “Oh my god! Why would you- oh my god!”

 

“Are you really so shy that you blush at the mention of a knot?”

 

Sicheng has to take a few moments to collect himself with some deep breaths. His cheeks cool down and he looks at Taeil, who sits next to him with the most patient and serene look on his face, as if this were a normal conversation and there had been no conflict just minutes before.

 

“Do you not want to smell like me?” Taeil prompts him.

 

“I just… How would we even explain that to everyone? Even if we did they probably wouldn’t believe us.”

 

“Would it be the worst thing if they thought we were together?” Something in Taeil’s eyes makes Sicheng’s heart race. Nothing is making sense.

 

“What if I want to date someone? I’d never get the chance cause they’d think I was taken.”

 

“Who would you want to date?”

 

“Uh… I don’t know. But if I walk around smelling like you then no one would ever approach me and I’d never get a chance to find out.”

 

“Yeah, why is that a bad thing? Then you wouldn’t get anyone hitting on you cause they’d know you were taken.”

 

“Except… I wouldn’t be. I wouldn’t be taken. And humans can still hit on me cause they can’t smell like we can.”

 

“They’d see the bond bite and they’d probably know.”

 

Sicheng feels the tension in the air again, feels his own confusion growing by the second. He needs to say something, but he fears the worst and he doesn’t want anything to change because everything is so perfect. Well, until a half hour ago.

 

“Listen, hyung… I know you’re territorial and everything, but… what you’re saying is just making me wonder if-if there’s something else going on here,” his voice trails off towards the end.

 

“What are you talking about? I told you it’s a wolf thing.”

 

“Yeah, well, I did some research, and… apparently it’s not.”

 

“Don’t you think I’d know?”

 

Sicheng keeps his head down, shakes it back and forth, slowly, hesitantly. He doesn’t want to hurt Taeil’s feelings but a line has been crossed somewhere. He doesn’t know how or when exactly it was, but something is off.

 

Taeil scoots over to him, pressing their bodies together and leaning down to rest his chin on his shoulder. “Sichengie,” he whispers, “I don’t think it’s as serious as you’re making it out to be.”

 

Sicheng shakes his head. This wolf is insufferable. “What if I just had some time to think about it?”

 

“Don’t be silly,” Taeil laughs, his hands moving to hold Sicheng’s hands, “We both know you’re going to end up saying yes, and meanwhile you’ll just walk around the house smelling like whoever you talk to and we can just do it right now. It doesn’t even have to be a big deal.”

 

“It’s not like you need to do it right now.”

 

“Yeah, but I want to. You know how badly I want to. And think about it. This way I won’t be nagging you all the time about who you smell like. I know you get annoyed when I do that.”

 

“Cause I don’t understand why you’re so concerned with what I smell like. I don’t care about your scent.”

 

“Yeah, cause I only ever smell like you. If I smelled like other people all the time I’m sure you’d have the same reaction,” Taeil chuckles, nuzzling into Sicheng’s neck.

 

Sicheng feels uncomfortable with the way all of Taeil’s responses seem to be so lighthearted, like he doesn’t understand the depth of Sicheng’s concern. “I’m not sure I would,” he says.

 

“You say the silliest things,” Taeil laughs, his lips brushing against the puppy’s soft skin, and Sicheng swears he feels the faintest graze of teeth, and it sends shivers down his spine.

 

“I don’t think you—”

 

“It won’t even hurt that bad when I do it, and you can bite me too right after—”

 

“Not when you do it, I said I’m—”

 

Sicheng tries to move and stand, but Taeil is gripping him ridiculously tight, so tight that he can see his muscles flexing and his knuckles turning white as he wriggles against him. A new wave of anxiety washes over him. Taeil is stronger than him, and he doesn’t want to admit it but he’s worried now. He swears his heart stops momentarily when he feels the unmistakable graze of teeth on his neck.

 

“You can bite me first if you want to.”

 

“No, I don’t—” Sicheng stops struggling against Taeil so hard, still half expecting him to let go any second now. This is Taeil, the cuddly teddy bear who loves sleeping in and holding hands.

 

“I’m just gonna do it really quick, Sichengie.” Taeil somehow puts more force onto his hands, holding him down harder, nibbling on the site of his bond mark.

 

“No, no, Taeil, don’t—” Sicheng squirms harder, realizing the true weight of the situation. He breaks free from Taeil’s grip and in a heated moment, slaps him across the face.

 

Taeil clutches his face and Sicheng gasps, almost apologizes before he realizes that that would be ridiculous. He’s not the one that needs to apologize.

 

There’s a long silence where Taeil catches his breath, his hand clutched to his cheek and his eyes locked on the ground.

 

Sicheng stands and Taeil quickly reaches out to grab his hand.

 

“I’m sorry,” Taeil’s voice cracks and he looks up with tears in his eyes. Seeing him like this, Sicheng feels tears filling his own eyes too. “I’m so sorry, Sichengie. I don’t-I don’t… I don’t know why I—”

 

Sicheng stares down at him waiting for an explanation.

 

“I don’t know what came over me, I-I wasn’t even thinking. I’m so so sorry, Sichengie. I’m so sorry,” Taeil cries, tears running down his cheeks.

 

Sicheng wants to forgive him, he sounds sincere. But, that was a close call. “Don’t let it happen again.”

 

“No, never! I won’t let it happen again, Sichengie, I promise.” Taeil reaches out for Sicheng like a child. Sicheng hesitates but he takes a step forward and lets the wolf’s arms wrap around him and cry into his chest. He doesn't hug back though, just clutches his neck and tries not to cry.

 

They stay like that for a while before Sicheng feels the need to speak up. “I think I’ll sleep in my room tonight.”

 

“Alone?” Taeil looks up with a wet face and swollen eyes.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“I just need some space.”

 

“I’m so sorry, again. I’m so sorry, Sicheng.”

 

Sicheng nods, trying to step away and Taeil hesitantly lets go of him. Sicheng swears he can see tears building up in his eyes again but he doesn’t want to see so he bows his headand steps away.

 

“Goodnight, hyung.”

 

“You’re really not going to sleep in here?” Taeil asks in a soft voice.

 

Sicheng stares at him for a moment before shaking his head.

 

Taeil gulps and nods.

 

And with that Sicheng slowly steps out of the room and makes his way to his own bedroom, where he sleeps in his bed that hasn’t been slept in in over a month.

 

Sicheng takes an early train to school without Taeil and rides back by himself, even though Taeil texted him asking if he wanted to meet up and go home together.

 

_Already on the train home sorry!_

 

And he ends up feeling kind of bad about it. Sure, maybe Taeil didn’t try to bite him with a clear head but it still happened, and it was too close a call. He imagines what would have happened if Taeil had successfully done it. Well, they’d be bonded. Only partially, but bonded nonetheless.

 

Yuta is walking through the gate when Sicheng finally arrives home. He lifts a hand to wave and smiles cheerfully as he greets the puppy.

 

“Hi, puppy, how are you?” Yuta hugs the dog hybrid and kisses his cheek. Always so affectionate.

 

“I’m good, how are you, hyung?”

 

“Oh, good to hear. I was actually just going to this restaurant near by, would you maybe want to come with me?” Yuta offers and Sicheng feels butterflies explode in his stomach.

 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” he nods. “Let me just put my school stuff inside first.”

 

“Yeah, of course.”

 

They walk back inside and Sicheng drops his backpack in his room and scurries back downstairs to Yuta. Yuta is smiling so warmly like he always is, and Sicheng feels his heart flutter. He always feels like this around the lion. They have a meaningful relationship but it’s also consisted of so much flirting over the years. Flirting that never goes anywhere and Sicheng never thought it could until Taeil suggested he was leading him on. And now he feels himself getting flustered under Yuta’s unwavering gaze and he thinks Taeil might’ve been on to something.

 

Sicheng’s heart almost leaps out of his chest when he feels a warm hand slipping into his. His breath catches in his throat and he looks at Yuta who’s still smiling.

 

“It’s a ten minute walk,” the lion says.

 

“That’s not bad at all,” Sicheng replies. “Have I been there before?”

 

“I don’t know, it’s a Japanese place and I wanted to check it out and see what they have. I’ve never been. But it’s near the train station in that little shopping center.”

 

“Oh, that one! I’ve never been but I see it every time I walk by.”

 

Something catches Sicheng’s eye and he turns his head. It’s Taeil walking up the path directly towards them. He feels nervous all of a sudden and he hates that. He shouldn’t be scared of his best friend. Though, it’s probably because not only are they not in good standing, he’s also holding hands with someone he’s been continuously jealous of. Sicheng slows down as they approach each other.

 

“Hey,” Taeil says to Sicheng.

 

“Hey, hyung,” Sicheng replies.

 

Yuta jumps in too. “Hey, Taeil.”

 

Taeil nods to him.

 

“Where are you guys going?” The wolf asks.

 

“I’m taking Sicheng out to dinner,” Yuta beams, rubbing his arm and Taeil eyes the show of affection.

 

“When will you be home?” Taeil directs his question to Sicheng.

 

“Maybe in an hour or so? I’m not sure.”

 

Taeil takes a deep breath and thumbs nervously at his backpack straps. “Right, well I’ll see you.”

 

“See you.”

 

Taeil walks off and Sicheng and Yuta walk on.

 

“Is everything okay?” Yuta asks carefully.

 

Sicheng shakes his head. “It’s not really important.”

 

“Okay. Well, I’m here if you need me.”

 

Sicheng grins. “Thank you.”

 

Yuta tells Sicheng all about different kinds of Japanese food over dinner. He knows a surprising amount about it. They talk about Yuta’s potential internships and how excited he is about those. They talk about Sicheng’s dance classes and how he's preparing for the end of year performance. They even talk about Taeil, and Yuta is so curious.

 

“He’s just very reclusive, and I think people are a little confused by it because they don’t know a lot about wolf hybrids.”

 

“Is he reclusive, though? I mean, he spends all of his time with you.”

 

“From my understanding, wolves form very close bonds with a small group of people and they prefer spending time with those people. They’re hesitant to spend time with people they don’t know very well. But, I can’t really say the same for all of them. That’s just Taeil.”

 

“Wow, that’s incredible,” Yuta nods and sips his drink, looking very pensive. “It’s so easy to get used to being around cats and dogs all the time.”

 

“You’re a lion!”

 

“I don’t really know any other lions, though. I’ve met some in the past but I’m not close with any. I do, however, know an abundance of kitties and puppies.”

 

“Exactly. So when a new hybrid comes in I just wish everyone would be a little more sympathetic. He’s so sweet he just doesn’t know how to show it.”

 

“I will admit that I judged him at first. But now that you’re saying all of this I’ll have to be sure to remember this conversation. Besides, if he’s friends with you he has to be pretty great. You’re an angel.”

 

Sicheng scoffs at Yuta’s corny compliment. “You’re definitely one of the more sympathetic ones. I appreciate it.”

 

Yuta nods. “You know, we don’t hang out like this much anymore. We should do this more often.”

 

Sicheng blushes upon hearing such a direct statement, but he nods in agreement. “Yeah, we should.”

 

“Maybe we could go see a movie together tomorrow? Dinner and a movie?”

 

Sicheng can’t help but giggle. It sounds like such a date, even if Yuta doesn’t mean for it to.

 

“Why are you giggling?” Yuta chuckles. “Sound like too much of a date? Should we skip the dinner part?”

 

Sicheng shakes his head. “No, dinner is good. It’s good.”

 

Yuta lifts his drink to toast. “It’s a date then,” he says, and he takes a sip looking as smug as ever.

 

Sicheng’s cheeks turn a shade of pink and he hopes the dim lighting in the restaurant helps to hide it.

 

Yuta picks up the check to pay for both of their meals and Sicheng is about to object but Yuta interrupts him. “Whoever suggested the date has to pay for the date. Don’t ask me, I don’t make the rules.”

 

The sun is setting on their way back home and Yuta holds Sicheng’s hand like he did on the way there. They walk slow, savoring the cool breeze and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, the crisp air, and the gorgeous orange sky. They stop to take pictures of each other by some pretty trees.

 

“I believe you have someone to talk to,” Yuta says when they’ve entered the house. “I really enjoyed tonight, but I’ll let you go now. I hope you had a good time as well?”

 

“Of course I did,” Sicheng grins. “Thank you for everything.”

 

“My pleasure, puppy.”

 

They hug and Yuta kisses Sicheng’s cheek, like always.

 

“Don’t forget about tomorrow night,” Yuta winks as he’s slipping away.

 

“I won’t.”

 

“Bye.” Yuta blows a kiss.

 

Sicheng catches it. “Bye, hyung.”

 

Sicheng watches Yuta disappear into the living room and he takes a deep breath before walking upstairs to Taeil’s room. He knocks on the door and waits for an answer before entering.

 

Taeil is sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands clasped in his lap. Sicheng approaches him with a soft smile and he sits down beside him. It’s silent for a few moments.

 

“Are we okay?” Taeil asks.

 

Sicheng looks at him. “You scared me last night.”

 

Taeil lets out a strangled breath and hangs his head. “I know. I know I did. And I feel so awful about it. I know I scared you and I never want that to happen again.”

 

“Then you need to stop pointing out my scent. You can be jealous all you want but I don’t think you should tell me about it. I think that makes you think it’s okay.”

 

Taeil nods in agreement. “That makes sense.”

 

“Do you think you can do that?”

 

“It might be hard, but… yeah, I can do it. I’ll definitely try.”

 

“Then, yes. We’re okay,” Sicheng says and reaches to hold Taeil’s hand.

 

Taeil smiles and pulls Sicheng in for a hug. He holds onto him for a while, breathing in his scent and stroking his hair. Sicheng allows himself to bury his face in Taeil’s neck, scouting his scent and feeling his pulse against his face.

 

“Gravity Falls?” Sicheng suggests, and Taeil pulls away with a grin, and everything is back to the way it should be.

 

Taeil lets Sicheng clean himself in the shower that night. And they curl up in bed holding each other extra tight to make up for the night that they weren’t together.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng swears he’s on the verge of having a heart attack as he’s scrambling around his room trying to get ready for his ‘ _date_ ’ with Yuta. He doesn’t know what to wear, how to fix his hair, if he should wear cologne, and he doesn’t know why he’s so nervous. There’s that nagging voice in the back of his head reminding him of the little crush he’s always had on Yuta, and how that could now be developing into something more. But, he doesn’t want to acknowledge that voice.

 

Yuta is sitting on a bench by the door, scrolling through his phone when Sicheng sees him from the top of the stairs. Yuta can smell him. He looks up with a big grin and stands up to greet him.

 

“You look pretty,” Yuta beams as he takes Sicheng’s hand and spins him around. He kisses his cheeks.

 

“Thank you, hyung,” Sicheng blushes.

 

Yuta just nods, still taking in all of the puppy’s beauty.

 

“Are you ready to go?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Yuta holds his hand on the way to the train station. “We’re going into the city.”

 

“Obviously.”

 

Yuta looks at him a little surprised and then he laughs and squeezes his waist.

 

“Sassy puppy.”

 

They hold hands the whole way there, and Yuta leans into his ear on the train. “Are you excited for our date?”

 

Sicheng scoffs and playfully elbows the lion in the ribs.

 

“Is that a no?”

 

“Yes, I’m excited,” Sicheng mutters, and the lion is content. The air between them has changed. Sicheng was already nervous but when he walked downstairs and Yuta called him pretty he felt something change. And now he uses the d word so freely and it doesn’t seem like a joke anymore. Sicheng doesn’t know how to feel.

 

Then Yuta is holding the door for the puppy, pulling out his chair, and feeding him bites of his food, then Sicheng thinks he knows how to feel but he doesn’t want to. Because feelings are scary and feeling nervous around someone you’ve always been relatively comfortable around is especially scary.

 

“Did you have a good day?” Yuta asks.

 

“Yes, I did. I got a lot of work done. We’re finalizing things for the end of year performance so I’m excited.”

 

“Oh, that’s wonderful! You’ll have to keep me updated on that. I want front row tickets when you perform.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll keep you updated.”

 

“Tell me about it. What kind of dance is it?”

 

“It’s a mix of modern, like hip hop and then it has some traditional Chinese dancing which is why I got a solo.”

 

Yuta looks fascinated. “A solo? Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. Now I really can’t wait to see.”

 

“Well, you’ll have to wait a few more months.”

 

“Or you could just give me a sneak peek, show for one.”

 

Sicheng wonders if he’s just perverted or if that actually sounded wrong.

 

Yuta smirks. “I didn’t mean for it to sound weird or—”

 

“I think you did,” the puppy chuckles, knowing Yuta and how he’ll say anything to get you to laugh.

 

“I’m always just thinking of all kinds of weird stuff, don’t mind me.”

 

“Anyway. No, I can’t give you a show for one. Unless you want me to do backflips all over your room.”

 

Yuta cackles. “If it’s you wreaking havoc on my room I wouldn’t mind.”

 

Sicheng frowns and hits him because he’s so ridiculous.

 

“Is this a good date place?” Yuta prompts him, looking around the restaurant.

 

Sicheng freezes, pondering how to feel about such an oddly worded question. He takes a few glances around the restaurant as well. “Why do you keep saying date?”

 

Yuta holds back a smirk, and shrugs, taking a bite of his food so he doesn’t have to talk and Sicheng feels himself question his ability to reason in the silence.

 

“Are we on an actual date?” Sicheng blurts out in a moment of desperation, and is surprised to get such a quick answer.

 

“Do you want to be?” Yuta asks calmly.

 

Sicheng can’t breathe. He doesn’t know if he heard Yuta’s words correctly. Pushing the job to answer such a daunting question on him, how rude. Sicheng chooses to remain silent and give the job back to the lion.

 

“I wouldn’t mind if we were,” Yuta says with an almost smile. He reaches out to hold Sicheng’s hand and the puppy feels his face get hot, and he can only guess that he’s probably bright red too. “You don’t even have to answer if you don’t want to,” Yuta says softly. “But I wanted you to know.”

 

Sicheng nods once, so subtly that he wouldn’t be surprised if Yuta didn’t see it. He pulls his hand out of Yuta’s and continues eating his dinner, hoping he’ll be able to calm down before he’s sat in a dark theater with the lion.

 

He doesn’t calm down. The heat in his cheeks turns to a nice, fuzzy warmth that keeps him light and giggly, receptive to Yuta’s flirtatious advances. And somewhere along the way he begins to feel needy. He wants to reciprocate every gesture but he fears coming across as desperate.

 

Yuta holds his hand again as they walk to the theater, smooths his thumb over his skin and gives an affectionate squeeze every few minutes. And he keeps looking at Sicheng, even kisses his cheek a couple times. Sicheng wants to explode. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to stop himself from attacking Yuta’s lips with his own if he looks at him like that one more time.

 

The two hybrids sit in the back of the theater, and they’re still holding hands. At some point in the middle of the movie, Yuta’s hand moves to rest on Sicheng’s inner thigh, and Sicheng holds his arm there, never wants it to move. Every few minutes Yuta will rub up and down the length of his thigh and it sends chills down the puppy’s spine, makes him buzz and makes his breath hitch.

 

Sicheng swears he might actually have to leave the theater once Yuta throws an arm over him and moves the other to keep a hold on his thigh. He’s completely surrounded by the lion’s scent, and he doesn’t have the will power to stop himself from completely indulging and turning his head to scout Yuta’s scent. The light and warm scent of cream and jasmine. When he pulls away, he’s a little surprised to see Yuta scout his scent as well. What could he expect? They’re in a dark, close-to-empty theater touching each other after a nice dinner.

 

Yuta spends a great deal of time scouting his scent. His nose nudges his neck repeatedly and Sicheng swears he can hear soft moans trapped behind his lips and begging to come out. He tries to ignore that because he knows what will happen to the seat if he entertains the idea of anything more than scenting.

 

Thankfully for the seat, nothing more happens after that. They walk out of the theater a little disoriented, after basically huffing each other’s scents the entire time. The walk home is quieter than the walk there. They’re happy and relaxed and simply enjoying each other’s company. And they don’t want it to end.

 

They turn the ten minute walk home into twenty minutes by walking slowly and stopping multiple times to look up at the stars and listen to the wind in the trees, and scout each other’s scents. They’re silent during that last part. Yuta holds onto Sicheng’s waist, his hands roaming over his hips and his face rubbing all over his neck.

 

“I know you basically live in Taeil’s room,” Yuta starts, his face in Sicheng’s neck, “but if you ever want to stay in mine you’re more than welcome to.”

 

Sicheng’s eyes widen a bit and his lips part in surprise. “Oh. Okay. Yeah.”

 

“I bet you’re really cuddly, huh? Taeil’s lucky he gets cuddles from you anytime he wants.”

 

Now Sicheng’s eyes are close to popping out of his head. It might sound rude to humans, inviting someone to your room so bluntly, but it’s totally normal for hybrids. Hybrids have exponentially higher sex drives than humans. They get into sexual relationships much quicker so it’s not a big deal for someone to say such a thing. Unless, they’re talking to a virgin.

 

So, Sicheng is freaking out. He nods, agreeing that, yes, he is very cuddly. Only to a select few individuals, though.

 

“It’s not like he’s demanding cuddles here and there all day like I’m some sort of vending machine of cuddles,” Sicheng tries to joke, deflecting the serious turn that the conversation almost took.

 

“Aw, I wish you were, though. So I could just pop in a quarter and take you away,” Yuta gushes while hugging the puppy from the side.

 

“Take me away?”

 

“From Taeil,” Yuta answers with zero hesitation. Sicheng was not expecting him to be so blunt, though he knew he’d get an answer similar to the one he received. Are all hybrids this territorial? How can he make it stop?

 

“He’s not keeping me hostage, you know.”

 

“I know, I know. You’re close and all. I respect that. But you know how jarring it is to see you every day and in less than a month to have that taken away?”

 

Shit. Yeah, actually.

 

“I’m glad you have such a good relationship with him. It must be nice, but… you know. We miss you. I miss you.”

 

Sicheng nods, feeling a tsunami of different emotions crash over him without any warning.

 

“I-I’ll remember that… you should know it’s not one sided. I miss you too. It’s just that there’s only so many hours in a day I can spend with each person.”

 

“We could all spend time together? I’d love to get to know Taeil. I’m sure anyone that close to you must be pretty wonderful.”

 

Sicheng wants to laugh. Yuta has no clue how funny he sounds. He’s so kind and the offer is sweet, and Sicheng wishes it didn’t sound so outlandish, but it could never happen. Taeil is too jealous.

 

“Yeah,” Sicheng nods, trying to sound sincere. “We could do that.”

 

“Great,” Yuta cheers.

 

They’re approaching the house and Sicheng is bittersweet about the date ending. He had an amazing time but now he needs some space to collect himself and come down from Yuta’s scent. Perhaps, Yuta can sense this.

 

“I had a wonderful time tonight,” Yuta says after they close the door behind them. “I hope you did too.”

 

“Yes, I had a great time. Thank you for taking me out.”

 

“On a date?” Yuta tries a soft smile.

 

Sicheng wants to give in to him so badly. His sweet smile, his warm presence, and dear God, his _heavenly_ scent. “We’ll see,” he mutters, a blush rising to his cheeks.

 

That makes Yuta laugh. He’s giddy and he pulls the puppy in for a farewell hug. “Okay, we’ll see. I’m glad you had a good time, puppy.” Yuta pulls away.

 

Sicheng is spent, mentally incapable of anymore flirting or niceties. He just nods. Yuta knows him so well, he doesn’t find it weird that he can’t respond. He knows he gets worn out from conversation. He kisses the puppy’s cheek, lets his lips linger there for a good moment and pulls back with a smile.

 

“Good night, puppy,” Yuta whispers.

 

“Good night, hyung.”

 

Yuta slinks off through the living room to his bedroom. Sicheng floats up the stairs to his bedroom. Taeil might be asleep and he honestly just wants to lay in bed and think about one particular lion. He’s laying there staring at the ceiling when he hears a knock on his door.

 

“Yeah?” He calls out.

 

Taeil opens the door.

 

“Hi,” Taeil greets him with a warm smile.

 

“Hi,” Sicheng grins, patting the bed next to him. Taeil closes the door and walks in, climbing on the bed and cuddling up to his dog hybrid friend.

 

“Did you have a nice night?” Taeil asks, and Sicheng tries to hold back a face splitting grin because, _wow_. How considerate of him to completely ignore the fact that his scent has probably been completely rubbed off and replaced with Yuta’s scent.

 

“I had a great night. Yuta and I went to dinner and a movie.”

 

“That sounds fun.”

 

Sicheng hums. “How was yours?”

 

“It was okay. I just studied,” Taeil shrugs. “I missed you.”

 

Sicheng chuckles. “Missed you too.”

 

“Do you wanna catch up on Gravity Falls?” Taeil suggests.

 

“Sure,” Sicheng nods, sitting up in bed. “Let me change into pajamas real quick. He gets up and walks to his closet to change out of his jeans and put on a pair of shorts.

 

Taeil reaches down to pick Sicheng’s laptop off the floor and place it in his lap. When he opens it and the screen lights up, he’s utterly shocked at what he sees.

 

The tab is left open on PornHub, and there’s an unfinished video on pause. The title reads _‘SMALL WOLF HYBRID DOMINATES AND KNOTS PUPPY HYBRID IN HEAT.’_ His jaw drops. He hears a big gasp behind him but he doesn’t tear his eyes off of the screen. The video is paused on a shot of a smaller brown-haired wolf buried inside a long, skinny puppy with blonde hair and small ears. Fittingly, they’re doing it doggy style and the puppy’s face is screwed up in pleasure. Taeil’s eyes flick all over the screen in fascination.

 

Before he can say anything, Sicheng is ripping the computer from his hands and closing the tab then slamming it closed. Taeil just looks at Sicheng, notices how red his cheeks are and how his ears seem to be shaking. It would probably be cute if it were in a different context. Sicheng looks at him shyly before tearing his eyes away in embarrassment.

 

“I didn’t know you liked wolf hybrids,” Taeil chokes out, moving to the edge of the bed, watching Sicheng’s cheeks turn an even brighter shade of red.

 

“I-I don’t… I-I just saw it o-on the home page a-and clicked on the v-v-video,” the puppy barely manages to stammer out.

 

Taeil gulps, can’t even help himself from saying it. “Then why’d it say ‘wolf and puppy hybrid’ in the search bar?”

 

Sicheng looks at him and pales, has no clue what to say, has never wanted the ground to swallow him up more in his life than this moment now.

 

“I-I think I’ll leave,” Taeil mutters, standing from the bed and slowly walking to the door. He gives a look back to Sicheng as if to make sure there’s nothing left to be said. What could be said? He doesn’t know, so he leaves.

 

Sicheng wakes up late to avoid Taeil at breakfast, and he silently and quickly scampers through the halls to avoid him at all other times of the day. He catches a glimpse of the wolf hybrid out on the patio talking to some friends near dinner time. The wolf makes direct eye contact with him and holds it, until Sicheng runs away to the library, hiding in the back because he knows Taeil will look for him in his room and he doesn’t want to be found. He pulls a book off the shelf and reads it until he’s sleepy, then he drags himself to his room to go to bed, having successfully avoided Taeil all day.

 

But it’s impossible to avoid him forever, because the next night is Friday and Friday night is movie night. All the hybrids like to curl up on and around the couch, sharing snacks and cuddling, because most, if not all, hybrids love cuddles and find them a necessary part of everyday life. Sicheng knows if he goes down there early that Taeil is going to be there and he’s going to try and sit next to him. If he goes down there at all, they’re going to be near each other and smell each other and Taeil is going to look at him and it’s just going to be awkward. But, if he doesn’t go down there then everyone will worry and he’s bad at faking sick so he sucks it up and forces himself to walk downstairs.

 

It’s too late apparently, because everyone’s already settling in, making themselves cozy on the couch and occupying every free space in view of the television. He gulps when he sees Yuta sitting near the edge of the couch. He spots Kun who’s already looking at him.

 

“Hey, Sicheng! Come on and sit down, you’re late!” Kun beams.

 

Sicheng’s first instinct is to go find a spot near Kun, but Jungwoo is curled up in his lap and they’re surrounded by other hybrids so he has no chance of even getting near his friend.

 

Yuta looks at him. “Hey, Sichengie, do you want to sit in my lap?” He offers and Sicheng feels his heart jump against his ribcage.

 

Not even a second later he feels a hand on his shoulder and he can smell who it is. He turns slowly to see Taeil.

 

“Hey, do you want to sit together?”

 

“Oh… Y-Yuta just asked me,” Sicheng mutters.

 

“You can sit between us,” Yuta says, patting the spot next to him.

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

Yuta smiles and pulls him down, wrapping an arm over his shoulders. Taeil sits down beside Sicheng and eyes the two, then intertwines one of his hands with Sicheng’s and lets the other rest on his inner thigh. _Why the hell did you have to do that, Taeil?_

 

Sicheng’s heart is racing. He’s not used to being this close to Yuta, They’ve been close but never pressed up against each other for a whole two hours. Not to mention he hasn’t talked to Taeil about anything and the wolf’s hand is dangerously fucking close to his crotch. If he moves it could easily slip closer so he stays as still as possible and can’t even relax enough to get comfortable.

 

“Okay, everyone, we’re voting between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Big Hero 6! Raise your hand if you want to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Taehyung yells out for everyone to hear.

 

A few people raise their hands.

 

“And Big Hero 6?”

 

Sicheng, Taeil, and Yuta all raise their hands, along with the majority of the room. Taeil raises the hand that had been resting on Sicheng’s thigh, and Sicheng is _praying praying praying_ until— he puts it back in the exact same spot, maybe even a millimeter closer.

 

“Big Hero 6 it is!” Taehyung cheers, clicking the movie for it to begin. A few people groan but everyone settles in for the movie.

 

Sicheng is uncomfortable trying to sit up straight and not let himself relax into the loving touches he’s receiving from his two hybrid friends. Can he even call Yuta a friend anymore? Taeil keeps playing with his fingers and squeezing his thigh and Sicheng wants to pluck it off and ask him what the fuck he thinks he’s doing. How rude would that be, though? If anyone is in the wrong here it’s Sicheng. He’s actually surprised Taeil isn’t treating him like a total pervert.

 

Sicheng’s back is starting to hurt from sitting up so straight. He takes a deep breath and slumps back into the couch, prompting Yuta to wrap his arm tighter around him, and Taeil to scoot closer to him and rub up and down the length of his arm. Dear God, what did he do to deserve this much attention.

 

Halfway through the movie, Taeil starts playing with Sicheng’s tail and tracing his fingers over his hand. He’s never done that before and it’s weird. Sicheng squeezes his hand to try and get him to stop but Taeil just laughs and kisses his shoulder, right next to Yuta’s hand. It gives the puppy chills, and he raises his shoulders to try and block it. Taeil tugs his arm back down and nuzzles his nose into his skin.

 

“Stop that,” Taeil whispers in his ear, yet again giving him chills. Sicheng’s back arches as his nerves tingle all the way down his spine, and Taeil presses more kisses to his shoulder. Yuta looks over at them.

 

Sicheng wiggles out of both of the hybrids' embraces and stands up to walk to the kitchen. He’s not surprised when he sees Taeil following him out of the corner of his eye. He rolls his eyes and speeds up to the kitchen, quickly opening the fridge and staring inside. He feels arms wrapping around him and he whines, frustrated with his inability to escape the wolf’s needy touches.

 

“You’re ignoring me,” Taeil says.

 

Sicheng closes the fridge and attempts to move to a different spot in the kitchen, but Taeil grabs his arms and keeps him from moving too far. Sicheng turns around and stares at the wolf in disbelief.

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“Yes, you are. I miss you.” Taeil crowds him again.

 

“You saw me yesterday.”

 

“You didn’t say a word to me.” He wraps his arms around the puppy’s neck and hugs him.

 

“I’ve just been busy with homework.”

 

“I couldn’t find you in your room last night. You were hiding from me.”

 

Sicheng scoffs. “That’s very presumptuous of you.”

 

“Then where were you?”

 

“I was reading in the library.”

 

“You never read in the library. And you just said you were busy with homework.”

 

Sicheng doesn’t know how to respond. There’s nothing to say to that because it’s true. He looks down, too embarrassed to meet Taeil’s eyes.

 

“I haven’t touched you in three days,” Taeil whispers, and when Sicheng looks up, he presses a kiss to his mouth. It lasts a little longer than usual and Sicheng pulls back to try and read Taeil’s face. What is he thinking?

 

“You’re acting weird,” Sicheng frowns.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

Taeil chuckles a bit and shakes his head. “I don’t think I do.”

 

“It’s not funny, okay? You’re making things worse.”

 

“So you are ignoring me.”

 

“We should get back to the movie.”

 

“Did you come in here for something? Or did you just want to get away from me?”

 

“I wanted a glass of water,” Sicheng says.

 

Taeil swiftly pulls away and fetches a glass from the cabinet to fill up with water. He hands it to Sicheng and then grabs his wrist and drags him out of the room. Sicheng thinks they’ll go sit back on the couch, but no. Taeil leads him upstairs to his room.

 

“What are you doing?” Sicheng frowns.

 

“We need to talk.”

 

Sicheng’s nerves are set on edge as Taeil leads him into his room and closes the door, and he watches as the wolf sits on the bed and pats the spot next to him. He hesitantly takes a seat and almost chokes when Taeil turns his body to face him.

 

“Can we talk about why you’re ignoring me?”

 

Sicheng splutters, that awful heat returning to his cheeks like the time before when they talked. Taeil can’t help but smirk at Sicheng blushing and fidgeting.

 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Sichengie.”

 

Sicheng hides his face in his hands. “I don’t know why you want to talk about it,” he groans.

 

“I want to talk about it because it’s the source of our problem here, and it seems that we’ve had a handful of those recently, so no more. I’ll let it go once we’ve talked everything out.”

 

Sicheng takes a deep breath and drops his hands from his face, looking up at Taeil through his eyelashes.

 

“So… you like wolf hybrids?” Taeil raises his eyebrows, barely managing to suppress a smirk.

 

“No, I-I, yes, n-no, I don’t know…”

 

“That video was almost twenty minutes long and it looked like you had just about finished it.”

 

Sicheng hides in his hands again and whines.

 

“You don’t have to be shy about it, Sichengie. Everyone has their preferences. I know I do.”

 

Sicheng looks up and watches him carefully. “I-I-I don’t know, I j-just, just saw it o-online one day a-and gave it a try, a-and that’s it.”

 

“But you searched for it.”

 

The puppy pouts and a soft whine escapes his throat. His cheeks are on fire and he’s speechless.

 

“What do you like about wolves?” Taeil asks with a softer voice this time, hoping to come off as less forward, less accusatory.

 

Sicheng’s cheeks somehow turn a brighter shade of red and he hesitates, choking over beginnings of sentences before he can figure out how to articulate his thoughts. He looks up at Taeil shyly. “Th-they’re big, like, down… down there,” he mutters.

 

Taeil has to hold his breath so he doesn’t laugh and further embarrass his friend. He’s just so cute, so shy talking about what turns him on.

 

“Yeah? So, you liked seeing that puppy getting knotted by such a big wolf?”

 

Sicheng nods. “He was really big, e-even though he was small a-and, yeah…”

 

“You’ve never been touched before, right?”

 

“No,” Sicheng mutters, averting his eyes from Taeil.

 

“You ever wonder what it would be like?”

 

Sicheng nods eagerly. “I really want a boyfriend,” the puppy gushes.

 

Taeil frowns at that, letting a long pause settle between them as he processes Sicheng’s words. “What? Why?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You don’t need a boyfriend, Sicheng.”

 

“No, I don’t need one, but I want one.”

 

“Why though?”

 

“I’ve never been in a relationship. I wanna know what it’s like. And I wanna know what it feels like to be t-touched.”

 

“You can just get toys?”

 

“A toy can’t knot me.”

 

“Yeah, they have special toys that simulate a knot.”

 

Sicheng chuckles softly. “Trust me, I know. But… I don’t want a fake one anymore.”

 

“What, like you’ve tried it? You have one?”

 

“Yeah,” he shrugs.

 

“What? I didn’t know you had one,” Taeil frowns, confused by this new information.

 

“Am I supposed to let you keep an inventory of my toys?”

 

“Toys? You have more than one?”

 

“Yeah,” Sicheng blushes. “Why?”

 

“How many do you have?”

 

“Um, like… six, I think?” The puppy giggles.

 

Taeil’s eyes go wide. “That’s so many.”

 

“I mean, most hybrids have them,” Sicheng shrugs. “You kind of need them if you’re unmated.”

 

“So, you use them pretty often?”

 

“Well, we’ve spent most of our time together since we met, so, not really anymore. I used to, though.”

 

“You must be really worked up, then.”

 

“Yeah, I am,” he admits with a laugh. “That’s why I need a boyfriend.”

 

“No, Sichengie, you don’t need a boyfriend.”

 

“Yes, I do,” Sicheng whines, throwing his head back. “We spend so much time together I don’t even get to play with my toys. I’ve used them maybe four times since we met.”

 

“You know you can ask me for some alone time? You can just run off for thirty minutes whenever you need, and you know, do whatever you want with yourself.”

 

“Or, I could get a cute boyfriend and run off with him,” Sicheng grins wide.

 

“If you get a boyfriend you’re going to spend all your time with him and I’ll be sad,” Taeil pouts.

 

“What if I find a boyfriend for you first? You want him to be shorter? Sweet and innocent or more feisty and playful? I’ll find any kind you want!”

 

“I don’t want a boyfriend.”

 

“Really?” Sicheng raises his eyebrows suggestively. “You don’t want a cute little omega to knot whenever you want?”

 

Taeil scoffs. “You don’t even know any wolves so good luck setting that up for me.”

 

Sicheng huffs and crosses his arms. “I could find one if I really wanted to.”

 

“Even if you do, you can’t date one.”

 

“Why not?” He pouts.

 

“You know how territorial we are? You can’t have a wolf for a boyfriend and a best friend. We’d smell each other on you and it just wouldn’t work.”

 

“There you go, crushing all my dreams,” he sighs. “No boyfriend for me.”

 

“Good. Then I get you all to myself,” Taeil grins, scooting forward and wrapping his arms around Sicheng’s waist.

 

Sicheng sighs, hugging the wolf back and ignoring his possessiveness. It seems like a joke now so he doesn’t want to force himself to take it so seriously.

 

“Are we okay?” Taeil asks when he leans back.

 

Sicheng nods, still clinging to him. “We’re okay.”

 

“Good,” Taeil grins and presses a kiss to the puppy’s mouth.

 

“Should we go finish the movie?” Sicheng asks.

 

“I guess so.”

 

The two best friends walk hand in hand downstairs and find their original spots on the couch again. They missed a good chunk of the movie but it’s alright. Everything is better now.

 

Yuta looks a bit confused but he welcomes Sicheng back into his arms nonetheless. When the movie finishes, Sicheng goes to Taeil’s room and falls asleep with peace of mind. Probably because he didn’t truly confront any of his feelings today.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng is busy all weekend doing homework and emailing classmates about the end of year dance performance. There’s so much that goes into planning it. They’ve got the basic choreography laid out but they need to break it up into chunks for each student to choreograph their own part. And then there’s outfits, location, music. Who’s going to mix all the songs together? How much money can they get from the school to pay for production? Are clothes included in production? Sicheng barely sees Taeil all weekend, let alone any of his other friends. But Taeil makes sure to bring snacks to his room and gets him to take breaks so he doesn’t lose his mind.

 

The next week isn’t much different. Sicheng is still helping plan everything out for the final performance and he finds himself unintentionally taking on a leadership position, which only means more work and responsibility. He’s done hours of research and the anxiety he’s accumulated is about to make him combust, and Taeil hasn’t come in to feed him snacks or cuddle him so he decides to go to Taeil’s room instead.

 

Maybe it’s the stress, but he doesn’t register what the strong scent coming from Taeil’s room means until he’s knocking on the door and not waiting a moment before opening it. He stops in his tracks with a gasp.

 

Taeil is there, shirtless and the golden skin of his softly toned body exposed. He’s laid out on the bed with his sweatpants half way down his thighs, his fully formed knot in his hand and cum dripping down his length and over his fingers.

 

Taeil lifts his thigh to try and cover himself but it doesn’t help that much because Sicheng is just standing frozen in the doorway like a ghost.

 

“Sicheng?” Taeil gulps.

 

Sicheng feels a whimper slip out of his throat. He can’t even meet Taeil’s eyes, his eyes are locked on his knot. His huge, wet knot, gone to waste.

 

He feels tears welling up in his eyes and before he knows it he’s crying. Clapping a hand to his mouth to try and hold in the sobs. It takes every ounce of strength he has left in him to tear his eyes away and step back. He can’t even close the door as he runs away crying.

 

So many thoughts are racing through Sicheng’s head as he runs to his room and slams the door. _You do not deserve to feel that way about your best friend’s knot. You don’t get to. What is wrong with you? Are you seriously so entitled that you cry over your best friend’s knot?_

 

Wasted knots, as they’re called, can make submissive hybrids upset because they instinctually feel its purpose is to breed them, and seeing one go to waste can affect their hormones. Although, it usually only happens between romantically involved hybrids, not friends. The shame and confusion only make Sicheng cry even harder.

 

He’s just beginning to get a hold on his breathing ten minutes after the incident. He’s not sobbing anymore but a tear falls over his cheek every minute or so. He hears a knock at the door. He can smell who it is and he’s shocked. He doesn’t want to answer it but the door is unlocked so Taeil lets himself in, peeking in before fully entering.

 

“Sicheng? Are you okay?” Taeil asks in the softest, most loving voice. That alone makes Sicheng want to start crying all over again. He doesn’t answer, just hangs his head.

 

Taeil closes the door and slowly walks over to him.

 

“I didn’t think I should come in here at first, but... we’ve had so many problems recently and I think we should just talk it out as soon as we can. We shouldn’t put things off anymore.”

 

Sicheng is slightly hard and still aroused from seeing a knot, the first one he’s ever seen in real life. He can’t stop thinking about it. So when Taeil sits down beside him and touches his thigh he flinches and gasps.

 

Taeil doesn’t react which shocks Sicheng even more. He’s just staring, and maybe he looks a little worried but other than that he’s expressionless.

 

“I’m sorry I…” Sicheng starts but he can’t finish. He feels tears welling up in his eyes again. Taeil rubs his thigh.

 

“You don’t have to apologize,” Taeil says, his voice still so soft and Sicheng wants to curl into him and forget everything that’s just happened.

 

“Yes, I do. You’re my best friend, and…” Tears pour over Sicheng’s cheeks again. He feels so guilty, and yet he’s still thinking about Taeil’s knot.

 

“You can feel any way you want to feel.” Taeil lifts his hand to wipe Sicheng’s tears away, but the puppy freezes. There’s a strong scent filling his nose all of a sudden. He turns his head ever so slightly towards the wolf’s hand and his mind goes fuzzy. Before he knows it he’s grabbing the wolf’s hand and wrapping his lips around his fingers, the ones that had cum dripping over them.

 

When he realizes what he’s doing, he looks at Taeil whose lips are parted in shock and eyes focused intently.

 

“I shouldn’t have—” Taeil starts, trying to pull his hand away but Sicheng holds it there with a whine and sticks his fingers in his mouth again, sucking the taste off them. Taeil slowly pulls his hand away and Sicheng hesitantly lets it go, whimpering when it’s finally gone and Taeil is wiping his fingers on his pants.

 

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Sicheng whimpers and fights the urge to grab his hand again. “I didn’t mean to do that, I wasn’t even thinking.”

 

“It’s okay,” Taeil says warily.

 

“I’m so— _ugh_ ,” Sicheng groans, looking down at his own bulge and trying to adjust his pants. Taeil’s eyes fall down, and as if he couldn’t notice it before, Sicheng drawing attention to it was not helping. “Horny all the time, _God_ , like all the time. I feel like everyone in this house is dating each other, and I have no one. No one’s ever touched me and I see a knot for the first time and I freak out. I’m such a fucking mess. I’m so sorry.”

 

Taeil stills hearing Sicheng’s words. He sounds so needy and desperate. It does something to him and his knot that still hasn’t gone completely down.

 

“You know it doesn’t have to stay that way,” Taeil says carefully.

 

“Stay what way?” Sicheng asks with a small voice.

 

“No one’s ever touched you? That can change.”

 

“H-how? I don’t have a boyfriend.”

 

Taeil slowly raises his eyebrows.

 

Sicheng just frowns in confusion.

 

“You don’t really need one.”

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t you like wolves?” Taeil scoots an inch closer to him.

 

Sicheng gulps hard and looks down at his body, notices his knot is still a little swollen. He swallows a whine.

 

“You’re not going to be my boyfriend,” Sicheng says, but he doesn’t sound that confident.

 

“I don’t have to be,” Taeil shrugs, reaching to hold Sicheng’s hand.

 

“What are you talking about?” Sicheng whispers, shocked by Taeil’s possible implications.

 

“If you’re ever really worked up and your toys aren’t working for you… you know where I am.” There’s something in Taeil’s eyes, something Sicheng has never seen before. His relaxed tone is unsettling and Sicheng thinks he must be hearing him wrong, but, no. His words are clear.

 

“You mean, you mean you and-and me,” Sicheng chokes on his words, scared to say anything too direct.

 

Taeil nods slowly, his fingers rubbing circles on Sicheng’s hand.

 

“It’s not that crazy of an idea, is it? You were just crying over my knot.”

 

Sicheng gulps, realizing what his best friend is implying. The thought alone is enough to give him chills up and down his body. Taeil sees him shake, and he chuckles at the sensitive puppy, his body reacting to mere words.

 

“You would— like, actually?” Sicheng whispers, the words barely slipping past his lips.

 

“Yes, baby. If you really need it. I’ll help you in any way you need me.”

 

“Really?” Sicheng’s mind is so occupied with imagining all of Taeil’s suggestions, he doesn’t even realize a whimper is straining to escape from his throat until the desperate sound is released. Taeil bites back a laugh because, fuck, it’s adorable the way the puppy is so affected by a few simple ideas.

 

Taeil chuckles. “Yeah. You liked this didn’t you?” He lifts his hand to caress Sicheng’s jaw, and Sicheng’s nose is on high alert again. He grabs Taeil’s hand without hesitation and puts his fingers back in his mouth, looks at Taeil to see him watching him suck on his fingers with the most fascinated look on his face.

 

The taste is gone in a few moments, and Sicheng pulls the wolf’s fingers from his mouth. He blinks and sits up straighter, and Taeil wipes his hand off again. He rubs his face and sighs, trying to shake the fog from his brain. His thoughts are clouded with desire and shame, embarrassment from being worked up so easily by his best friend. He feels the bed move and a hand rubbing his back, and he uncovers his face to see Taeil has moved closer to him. He’s smiling softly but his eyes look darker, and Sicheng has a feeling in his gut like he knows what’s about to happen.

 

Taeil leans in slowly and gently presses his lips to Sicheng’s lips.

 

“You like kissing, don’t you?” Taeil asks.

 

“Yeah,” Sicheng squeaks out.

 

Taeil grins and kisses him again with a little more pressure. He opens his mouth to lick over Sicheng’s lips very slowly, teasing him and making him gasp, then slipping his tongue in when the puppy parts his lips. Sicheng is so focused on Taeil’s tongue in his mouth that he barely feels a hand rubbing down his torso until it’s right by his waistband and grazing over his bulge.

 

Sicheng moans when Taeil finally cups him, pressing his palm against him and rubbing slowly. Sicheng huffs when his pace doesn’t pick up. He bucks his hips up into the touch but then Taeil is leaning away from the kiss and his hand is back to rubbing his torso, slipping under his shirt and feeling his chest. Sicheng frowns.

 

“This okay?” Taeil speaks lowly, his fingertips brushing over Sicheng’s nipples and the puppy squirms but doesn’t respond. “Answer.”

 

“Yes,” Sicheng nods.

 

Taeil chuckles. “Aw, do you have sensitive nipples?” He coos as he pulls Sicheng’s shirt up so he can suck on his nipples. Sicheng cries out at that, lifting his chest for more. The euphoric feeling of Taeil’s warm, wet tongue lapping at his nipples. “Baby,” the wolf whispers.

 

“Hm?”

 

“I want you to say something if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

 

Sicheng nods.

 

“Do you think you can do that?”

 

Sicheng nods again.

 

“How about a word? Like mango?”

 

“Okay.”

 

Taeil grins and kisses him again, his hand eventually moving back down to his bulge. Sicheng becomes needy and he bucks up into Taeil’s hand.

 

“Stay still, sweetheart,” Taeil places a firm hand onto Sicheng’s hip to keep him from moving. Sicheng stops lifting his hips up as much, but he doesn’t quite understand so he keeps rutting lightly into the pressure. “I said stay still. Do you want me to stop?” Taeil stills his hand but keeps it pressed into the puppy’s bulge.

 

Sicheng gasps and looks into Taeil’s eyes, startled by how serious he looks. He shakes his head. “No, please don’t stop.”

 

“Are you going to behave?”

 

His eyes go wide but he answers nonetheless. “Yes.”

 

“Good boy,” Taeil says and rubs the puppy again. Sicheng whines, throwing his head back and Taeil takes the opportunity to latch onto his neck and start sucking. Sicheng whines louder than before, feeling the wolf’s eager tongue lapping at his sensitive neck. He tries as hard as he can to not move his hips, and he succeeds, apart from the occasional twitch but Taeil seems to think he’s behaving well enough.

 

It’s when Taeil decides to edge him that he gets needy again. He whines when Taeil’s hand leaves his clothed erection and rubs over his torso and plays with his nipples instead. He can feel how wet the back of his shorts are, soaked with slick and he guesses the bed sheets are too. He can smell it. He can feel his ass clenching and leaking slick every time Taeil teases him.

 

Taeil is kissing Sicheng’s lips when his hand wanders in between the puppy’s legs, and he has to lean back and see if what he feels on his fingers is real. He scoffs, rubbing the thin substance between his fingers and watching it make ribbons when he spreads them. He puts his hand back to feel Sicheng’s shorts again.

 

“Look at you,” he laughs. “Look how messy you are.”

 

Sicheng feels guilty hearing the words even though more slick leaks from his hole at the same time.

 

“You’ve soaked through your shorts. And you’ve gotten it all over the bed. The duvet is soaking wet,” Taeil’s voice is mean but his hand rubs Sicheng’s thighs in the most loving way, and he cups the puppy’s length through his shorts and teases him some more.

 

“I’m sorry,” Sicheng pouts, using all the self control he has to resist bucking his hips up into Taeil’s hand.

 

“You should be.”

 

Sicheng can’t stand being teased any longer. He wants Taeil’s hand wrapped around his cock, he wants skin on skin contact. He hides his face in Taeil’s neck and grabs onto his arm for stability, but then he tries to guide it into his pants and the wolf does not approve.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Taeil grabs his hand and squeezes it very hard.

 

“Touch me,” the puppy whines, “please.”

 

“I was touching you.”

 

“No, I want you to really touch me. Please, hyung.”

 

“Now, why would I do that? When you’re being so bad?”

 

“ _No_ ,” Sicheng cries out, “I’m good. I’m being good.”

 

“Good puppies aren’t as greedy as you.”

 

“I-I just want t-to cum. I was close.”

 

“Aw, baby,” Taeil’s hand finds its way back to Sicheng’s erection, and he massages his swollen balls and teases his length with slow touches. “You want to cum?”

 

“Yes,” Sicheng nods eagerly, “yes, please.”

 

“You’ve been bad, though.”

 

“Please.”

 

Taeil chuckles and slips a hand inside Sicheng’s boxers. “Is this what you want?”

 

“Yes, yes, hyung,” the puppy whines.

 

“You think I should let you cum?”

 

Sicheng nods and clings to Taeil’s neck.

 

“Ask me for permission.”

 

Sicheng whines at the suggestion, practically choking as he stammers out the words. “Can I cum, please?”

 

“Go ahead, baby.”

 

And a few moments later, Sicheng is spilling into the wolf’s hand, all the while keeping his hips relatively still as Taeil milks him of every last drop. He pants as he feels his orgasm fading away, his mind foggier than before. He focuses on finding his breath as Taeil pulls his hand away and tugs his shorts back up. He watches the wolf inspect his hand, a million thoughts racing in his mind and he wonders if he should say something. He watches in shock as Taeil brings his fingers to his lips and sucks them clean, and his jaw drops when the wolf moans and makes eye contact with him again.

 

“You taste even better than I thought you would,” Taeil smirks, kissing his lips. He wraps his arms around Sicheng and kisses all over his face. Sicheng returns the embrace and revels in how warm and safe it feels. “You did so well, baby. You’re such a good puppy.”

 

Sicheng blushes and looks at Taeil with big, innocent eyes. “I am?”

 

“You are. I am going to have to teach you some manners, though.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Did you enjoy it?”

 

“Yeah,” Sicheng nods, wrapping tighter around Taeil. Sicheng could swoon. He knows it’s just those post-coital, mushy feelings one gets after they cum, but still. He wants to stay right next to Taeil for the rest of the night. “I like— um… I like—”

 

“Like what?” Taeil smirks.

 

“I like the-the way you talk to me,” Sicheng mutters, finding it hard to look him directly in the eyes.

 

Taeil dips down and kisses his lips. “I could tell.”

 

Sicheng blushes and hides in the wolf’s neck again.

 

“Do you want to take a shower? Get all clean and ready for bed?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“C’mon.”

 

They stand and Sicheng doesn’t let go of Taeil like he normally does. He walks behind him and keeps his arms wrapped around his waist as they walk to the shower. Taeil chuckles and puts his hands over Sicheng’s on his stomach.

 

“If you always get this clingy after you cum then I’m just going to have to make you cum all the time,” he whispers.

 

Sicheng’s jaw drops and his cheeks turn red hot, and he’s so embarrassed he has no choice but to ignore the lewd suggestion.

 

They shower together and Sicheng has to ignore Taeil’s still partially formed knot because the wolf says they should go slow and not do everything at once. That doesn’t stop Sicheng from looking at it though. Over and over again. And trying to talk as much as he can so he can focus on something else other than crying.

 

Taeil’s words linger in his mind. _I’ll help you in any way you need me._ What if he needs him again the very next day? Sicheng is starving for more after one small taste of what Taeil has to offer. He’s stepped into a new world and he wants to explore every square inch of it.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

When Sicheng gets home from school the next day and he and Taeil separate to do homework, he goes to the shower and shaves himself so he can feel pretty and ready for anything Taeil wants to do to him later.

 

Then he finds himself up late doing homework and cleaning his room. He walks downstairs to get a snack and a glass of water, and he hears the TV in the next room cut off and Yuta walks in. His face lights up as the lion walks over to him with a grin, but he feels guilty.

 

“Hey, you,” the lion beams.

 

“Hey,” Sicheng replies shyly, his mind immediately flooding with memories of the night before, what he did with Taeil. He doesn’t have any good reason to feel guilty, he isn’t dating Yuta. But he still feels bad.

 

“I haven’t see you in a couple days, is everything okay?” Yuta asks with a concerned tone, taking Sicheng’s hand in his own.

 

“Yeah, everything’s good.”

 

“So, this isn’t about the other night, right?” Yuta asks, and he looks so insecure. Sicheng isn’t used to seeing him like this, doesn’t know if he’s ever seen him like this. That makes his heart break.

 

“No! No, of course not. I had a great time the other night. I’ve just been so busy with school work. And my schedule has been filling up with all this dance stuff.”

 

“Oh, okay,” Yuta says with a smile, looking much happier now that he’s been reassured. “I thought I might’ve scared you.”

 

“No, nothing like that.”

 

“Would you be able to hang out again sometime soon?”

 

“Yeah, I’m free this Friday.”

 

“Perfect. And are you busy right now?”

 

“Yeah, actually. I got to finish up some homework and then I’m going to bed. I’m sorry.”

 

Yuta looks disappointed. “Ah, it’s okay. It’s not your fault… This Friday, then?”

 

“Yeah, this Friday,” Sicheng nods.

 

“Great,” Yuta grins and brings the puppy in for a hug, and as always, a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Good night,” Sicheng says.

 

“Good night.”

 

They make their way back to their own rooms.

 

It takes the dog hybrid about thirty more minutes to finish his homework. He sits back in his chair with a sigh and shuts his laptop, rubbing his hands over his face and sighing. Taeil’s probably waiting for him, he thinks, so he leaves his room and goes to Taeil’s.

 

Thankfully Taeil’s just scrolling through his phone when he enters his room this time. Taeil lights up and sets his phone down, sitting up and stretching out his arms for a hug. Sicheng gladly slips between his arms and gives him a warm hug.

 

“I’m exhausted,” he groans, leaning into the wolf.

 

“Well, now you get to relax with me.”

 

Sicheng feels comfortable like this, being held so tightly and letting go of all his tension. They stay like that for a bit, until Taeil turns his head to scout Sicheng’s scent and Sicheng can feel his hands falling down his back, his sides, and resting on the backs of his thighs. Taeil presses a kiss to his neck and Sicheng pulls back with a smirk.

 

Taeil grins back. They look at each other for a few moments, maybe to test the waters, maybe to not come off as too forward. Sicheng takes a leap by leaning down and pressing a kiss to Taeil’s lips, and Taeil takes the second leap by placing a hand on his neck and holding him there. Then they’re kissing. Sicheng wonders how he walked into the room less than a minute ago and now he’s making out with his best friend again.

 

Taeil pulls at Sicheng’s thighs so the puppy sits in his lap and clings to his shoulders.

 

“You gonna let me touch you again, puppy?” Taeil speaks with a gruff voice.

 

Maybe it’s because he’s a virgin, or because he’s a puppy and he’s excitable, but Sicheng instantly feels a little wetness at the back of his pants. He nods breathlessly, letting Taeil push him to the side and lay him on the bed. Taeil stands between Sicheng's legs and leans over his body.

 

They make out for a good while, playing with each other’s tongues and Taeil presses kisses all over his face and neck. He even nibbles a bit but Sicheng pushes him away.

 

“No marks, please.”

 

Taeil looks disappointed but he complies. Until he lifts the puppy’s shirt up and bites his stomach, and Sicheng wonders if he’s ignoring his request or if he assumed Sicheng meant no visible marks. Sicheng can’t complain though, because Taeil is chewing on him all over and he surprisingly likes the pain, likes the way it makes him gasp and squirm and how satisfied Taeil seems to be with his reactions.

 

Taeil grinds his hardness in between his legs and the puppy moans. He places his feet on Taeil’s backside and pulls him closer, and Taeil retaliates by holding his arms down by his sides and continuing to mark his torso, biting and sucking, spending a lot of time around his nipples where he’s extra sensitive.

 

“You’re gonna be good this time, right?” Taeil whispers by his ear.

 

Sicheng whines. “I was good last time.”

 

“Mm, you had a bit of an attitude.”

 

“I’ll be better this time. I’ll be good.”

 

“You promise?”

 

“I promise.”

 

“You know you shouldn’t make any promises you can’t keep,” Taeil says, standing up straight and shrugging off his hoodie. Sicheng is excited now, seeing Taeil really get ready for him. He was fully clothed last night. They both were. So when he pulls his shirt over his head and his smooth honey skin is on display, he knows he can’t stop himself from whining. And he can’t stop the slick from leaking out of him and wetting his pants. Taeil must smell it because he lightly traces his fingers over the puppy’s bottom and chuckles.

 

“That’s cute, baby. Are you excited?”

 

Sicheng nods.

 

“Remember 'mango,' okay?”

 

He nods again.

 

“Good. You’re so wet already. C’mere.” Taeil gestures for Sicheng to sit up. He helps take his top off and then pushes him back down and tugs his pants off, rubbing over the wet spot on his boxers and cupping his quickly hardening length. He pushes his legs back so they’re up in the air, and he slowly tugs his boxers off until his glossy, puckered hole is exposed. He traces a finger over his entrance and watches in delight as the puppy twitches and whimpers.

 

“Oh, look at you,” Taeil grins. “What did you do?”

 

Sicheng blushes.

 

“You’re so pretty. Such a pretty hole.”

 

“Hyung,” Sicheng pants.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Please.”

 

“Please, what?” Taeil waits for a properly worded and well mannered request.

 

“C-can you please f-finger me?”

 

“Since you asked so nicely,” Taeil hums and slowly presses his middle finger into the puppy. Sicheng knows the feeling, he’s fingered himself before. But having someone else do it and seeing how different it feels is baffling. It’s so warm and tingly and he’s so wet it just slides in, he already wants another finger.

 

Taeil slowly moves his finger in and out of the puppy at a teasingly slow pace, only adding another when Sicheng asks him to.

 

“Oh, so good,” Sicheng pushes his hips down against the fingers inside him. “So good, hyung.”

 

“Keep your hips still, baby.”

 

Sicheng had forgotten Taeil’s rules. Oops. He nods.

 

“I need you to answer me when I tell you to do something.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Good boy.”

 

Being praised sends him spinning into a completely new whirlwind of emotions. He so badly wants to fuck himself onto Taeil’s fingers but he has to control himself. He has to be good for the wolf.

 

It’s so hard though, staying still and not squirming, especially when Taeil’s fingers rub over his prostate. Sicheng almost screams because it feels so good. He really can’t help himself, he bucks his hips into the touch and mewls. Taeil pulls his fingers out.

 

“I thought you said you were going to be good. Should I stop?”

 

“No! No, I’ll be good. I’m sorry. It just feels so good, I’m sorry I’ll be still,” Sicheng begs, and is surprised to hear such desperation in his voice. Who knew how easy it was for another person to make him feel this small. Though he wonders if another person would be able to do this to him.

 

Taeil keeps fingering him. He alternates speeds and depths and he rubs deliciously slow over his prostate when he wants to see the puppy cry and try as hard as he can to stay still, which only makes his cries louder. It’s not too long before his hips are twitching and he’s panting.

 

“I’m gonna cum,” Sicheng moans.

 

Suddenly, Taeil’s fingers are slipping out of him. “Not without permission you won’t,” Taeil says sternly, rubbing his fingertips over his rim.

 

“Put them back in,” Sicheng sobs.

 

“Do you forget all your manners when you’re like this? All slutty and desperate?”

 

“I’m sorry,” the puppy whines. “Can I please cum?”

 

“I’m not going to make it as easy as it was last night, Sichengie. You haven’t been using your manners, and only well-mannered puppies get to cum.”

 

“I’ll use my manners! Please, let my try again! I’ll use them. I’m sorry.”

 

“Now you say that because you want to cum.”

 

“I’m sorry,” the puppy cries, “I’ll be good, hyung, I swear. I want to use my manners now.”

 

“If you don’t… then I don’t think I’ll let you cum,” Taeil warns, teasing Sicheng’s rim again.

 

Sicheng yelps. “I’ll be good.”

 

“You better be. Now tell me what you want.”

 

“Can you please put your fingers back inside me?”

 

“Sure, sweetheart.” Taeil slips his fingertips past the boy’s rim and slams them back inside the puppy’s hole, making him squirm and cry out. “Is that what you wanted?”

 

“Yes,” Sicheng’s voice shakes, “thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

“I’m close again. Can I please cum?”

 

“Go ahead, baby.” Taeil pulses his fingers in and out of the boy at a fast pace, trying to send him over the edge and watching him try and hold back his pathetic cries.

 

Sicheng cums all over his tummy, and slicks pours out of him over Taeil’s fingers. Taeil slows his pace and slips his fingers out of the boy once his orgasm is finished. Sicheng looks up and watches the wolf put his fingers in his mouth and suck them clean. Just when he thought it was over, he’s aroused again.

 

Sicheng sits up and clings to the wolf. “Thank you,” he whimpers softly.

 

Taeil smirks at the pup. “You’re welcome. You’re such a good boy.”

 

Sicheng hums and scouts Taeil’s scent, rubbing his face in it and nipping lightly at his skin, clinging to his waist like he doesn’t plan on letting go. Taeil pets his head with his clean hand. And that’s when Sicheng feels Taeil’s massive bulge against his chest. He pulls away and looks down, his face already so close to it and he kisses Taeil’s tummy, all the way down until he’s at his waistband and he looks up.

 

“May I?” He mutters.

 

“May you what?” Taeil caresses his jaw.

 

“Take your pants off?”

 

“And do what?”

 

Sicheng whimpers. He’s too shy to say it. “Suck y-your-your kn-knot, please?”

 

“Yes you may, puppy.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Sicheng kisses around Taeil’s tummy again and gently tugs at his sweatpants. He tugs them down to the middle of his thighs and moves to the floor on his knees. By now he’s already seen his knot but it isn’t any less shocking. It’s huge, and it’s everything he’s ever dreamed a knot would be. He leaves a trail of kisses all over Taeil’s tummy, his hips, and his thighs. Taeil tangles his fingers in Sicheng’s hair at the back of his head and holds him firmly in place. Sicheng can’t wait any longer, he grabs Taeil’s cock and makes sure to lock eyes with him as he places the tip in his mouth. Taeil makes a small groaning noise, which only draws itself out as Sicheng presses his tongue flat against Taeil and licks up towards the tip.

 

Sicheng’s lips close around the tip again and he bobs his head down, taking in as much as he can. He begins sucking and picks up a pace that has Taeil cursing and moaning, looking down into Sicheng’s eyes with so much love. Sicheng makes sure to rub his balls and use lots of tongue all over his length, and Taeil is impressed by his dedication as he mouths at his forming knot.

 

Taeil places a firm hand at the base of Sicheng’s neck. “I wanna cum all over your face, baby.”

 

Sicheng gives an unsure nod and lets Taeil’s cock slip out of his mouth. Taeil fists his cock for a bit as the knot forms, and all it takes is looking down at Sicheng’s pretty face, the tears in his eyes, his full, pink lips quivering with anticipation. He paints Sicheng’s face, and Sicheng closes his eyes and welcomes it, but just a moment later he bursts into tears. Taeil finishes with a mess of gruff moans and he watches Sicheng slowly open his eyes and give in to the tears, leaning against Taeil’s thigh and sobbing. Taeil leans down and holds him by the jaw, looking over his face covered in cum, drool, and tears.

 

“You’re so beautiful,” Taeil whispers, pressing his lips to Sicheng’s.

 

Sicheng can’t stop crying but he still kisses Taeil the best he can, clinging to his arms and wanting him closer.

 

“What do you say now?”

 

“Thank you,” Sicheng whimpers.

 

“Good boy,” Taeil pats his head. He helps the boy up and sits him on the bed, grabs a towel to wipe his face off. “You did so well, baby. I’m so proud of you.”

 

The puppy’s sobs quiet down.

 

“You’re so good, my good puppy.”

 

Sicheng clings to him again and scouts his scent, wanting nothing more than to stay latched onto him like this for as long as he can.

 

“Let’s clean up and then we can cuddle all you want. And I’ll give you lots of kisses for being so good.”

 

Sicheng nods, and they make their way to the shower. Taeil is extra attentive with the puppy, cleaning him and making sure to kiss him as much as he can, and praising him a lot so he knows how well he did. The puppy is more than happy to accept the praise. Sicheng is hesitant to let go of Taeil, never wanting them to not be touching for more than a few seconds. And Taeil loves it, loves giving him so much attention. They cuddle up in bed and hold each other tight all night long.

 

Sicheng's clinginess doesn’t disappear when they wake up. He asks for help getting dressed and making breakfast, and he puts his legs over Taeil’s at the table and asks him to feed him. He holds Taeil’s arm against his body as they walk to the train station, and he kisses him. A lot. It’s still the short pecks they always do but it’s a lot more frequent throughout the day. He texts Taeil all day long and runs to hug and greet him when they finally reunite after class.

 

Sicheng whispers in his ear on the train home. “Was I good last night?”

 

Taeil smirks at the question because the answer seems obvious to him. “Yes, baby. You were so good. You were perfect.” They kiss.

 

“Can we do it again tonight?” Sicheng asks, looking so hopeful and Taeil wants to give him the whole word.

 

“I’d love to.”

 

Sicheng smiles giddily and scouts Taeil’s scent.

 

“Such a clingy pup.”

 

“You like it,” Sicheng teases.

 

“I love it.”

 

Sicheng doesn’t want to be in separate rooms to do homework, but Taeil urges him to focus on his work so he can finish quicker and they can have their bonding time later. But Taeil isn’t done when he is, and he needs to find something to distract himself because he’s gotten so goddamn needy he think he might cry if he dwells on it for too long. What is happening to him?

 

He walks downstairs to see if he can find Kun, who he hasn’t seen or really even heard from in a few days and he feels bad about that. Kun isn’t anywhere to be found. Yuta, however, is chatting with Ten and Johnny in the kitchen and he looks like he’s seen an angel walk into the room when he looks at Sicheng.

 

“Hey,” Yuta interrupts himself talking to Ten and Johnny, and walks over to Sicheng. “How are you?”

 

“I’m good, how are you?” Sicheng hugs him back, feeling even guiltier than the night before. He’s paranoid that Yuta can smell it on him, but it’s useless to worry about because he’s showered immediately after both times he and Taeil have done stuff together.

 

“Great, do you wanna hang out for a while?” Yuta rubs his arms and the look in his eyes is enough to send a swarm of butterflies through Sicheng. He looks so excited, so purely happy to see him and Sicheng is warm and fuzzy just like the other night when they went out together.

 

“Yeah, sure,” he agrees.

 

Yuta smiles warmly and says goodnight to Ten and Johnny, leading Sicheng to the dark living room and sitting him on the couch. He turns the TV on but on a low volume, and turns his body to Sicheng to hold his hand.

 

“You’ve been so busy lately working hard on all your projects. I can’t wait to take you out tomorrow and treat you.”

Sicheng blushes. Yuta is so charismatic, it’s easy to get lost in his presence. He forgets all about the guilt from a few moments ago and he feels himself in the moment with Yuta. His warm energy is captivating.

 

“Thank you, I’m looking forward to it too.”

 

“I was thinking that we could walk around the river at night, maybe try out some street vendors. And I know you love art, maybe we could go to a museum or a show if you want.”

 

“A museum sounds great. All of that sounds lovely. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

 

“Only the best for you,” Yuta grins, squeezing his hand and leaning in closer to him.

 

The dark room, the soft noise of the TV in the background, the way Yuta is looking at him. Sicheng feels like he’s floating. He’s been feeling like that a lot lately when he’s with Yuta. Maybe that’s his power, or maybe he’s developing serious feelings for the other hybrid.

 

“There’s this really good Chinese street vendor near the river that I’ll have to show you,” Sicheng says, but his voice is quiet. Everything seems quiet now that they’re so focused on each other.

 

“Yeah, you’ll have to show me.” His voice is soft too. He isn’t saying anything too meaningful but there’s a smile on his lips. A smile forms on Sicheng’s lips as well.

 

“They have these really good kabobs,” Sicheng says, his voice barely a whisper now.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“And Chinese cotton candy.”

 

“That sounds good,” Yuta whispers.

 

“Yeah.”

 

They stare at each other for a moment, both knowing exactly what’s going on. Sicheng stays put but he watches Yuta’s smirk fade to a focused expression. The lion leans into him and their faces slowly inch closer to each other.

 

It feels so right, so comfortable when Yuta finally presses his lips to Sicheng’s. It’s soft at first as they slowly move their lips together and navigate through their first kiss. Sicheng sighs into the kiss which prompts Yuta to hold his face. Yuta leans back for a second to look at him and Sicheng chases his lips.

 

Yuta chuckles against his lips and kisses him with more fervor. They really melt into each other when Sicheng decides to slip his arms around Yuta’s neck and their bodies fully press together. It’s not a typical first kiss, probably because it’s been a long time coming. It’s passionate and deep and even desperate.

 

With Sicheng’s arms around his neck, Yuta finds himself wanting to touch his body. He places a hand on his chest to test the waters, and when he isn’t pushed away, he takes it as an invitation to smooth his hand over his ribs, near his abdomen. He rests his hand on his waist for a while as they make out, and sooner or later he gets the urge to lift the puppy’s shirt. He does it slowly so the puppy has time to push him away, but he doesn’t. The puppy arches into his touch and welcomes his hand on his bare skin.

 

Yuta pulls away to kiss down his neck. Sicheng is out of breath. He pants and tilts his head back to allow the lion to kiss his neck anywhere he likes. He’s so blissed out, he can barely register what’s happening. Yuta starts sucking on his neck and just when he’s about to tell him to stop, he sees someone walk into the living room from the corner of his eye. He gasps.

 

“Taeil?” Sicheng pulls his arms back and pushes Yuta off of him. Yuta pulls away too.

 

Taeil is standing there with a stone cold look on his face.

 

“Can we talk?” He asks.

 

“Right now?” Sicheng gulps.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Sicheng moves to stand but Yuta grabs his hand and looks at Taeil.

 

“We were kind of in the middle of something. Do you mind?”

 

“Yes, I do. Come on, Sicheng.”

 

Sicheng and Yuta both look stunned but Sicheng feels pressured to go with Taeil, so he does. Taeil takes his hand and leads him to his room. He closes the door and turns to him.

 

“Why are you letting me touch you if you’re dating Yuta?”

 

“I-I-I mean… Yuta and I— we aren’t dating per se. We hung out and he kept joking about how we were on a date, and… honestly, I don’t really know what’s going on.”

 

“Should we stop?”

 

“No! No. No, we shouldn’t,” Sicheng protests.

 

Taeil nods, thinking over everything for a minute. “Why were you kissing him?”

 

“He kissed me.”

 

“Why did he kiss you?”

 

“I don’t know, because he likes me?”

 

“Are you going to feel weird if we hook up again?”

 

“No, not at all!”

 

Taeil nods. “Okay.”

 

“Okay?”

 

“I mean it’s up to you.”

 

“I don’t want to stop,” Sicheng shakes his head, approaching the shorter boy and wrapping his arms around his neck. “I like what we’re doing. I trust you, and I like that you make me feel so comfortable.”

 

Taeil smiles and nods. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

 

Sicheng grins and leans down to kiss his lips but it’s only a peck. He’s not about to start making out with him after he was just making out with someone else.

 

“We should watch Adventure Time before bed,” Sicheng suggests.

 

“Okay, yeah.”

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng said hooking up with Taeil wouldn’t bother him because he’s not dating Yuta, but it’s not that simple. He wants to date Yuta. And he knows that when looking for a potential mate, a person doesn’t usually want them to be sleeping with their best friend. So he plans to bring it up with Taeil again the next day and sort something out, but that never happens.

 

Taeil is wrapping around him as soon as he walks into his room, kissing his neck and Sicheng instantly relaxes into his embrace.

 

“Get on the bed,” Taeil whispers in his ear.

 

Sometimes, Sicheng wishes he wasn’t a puppy. He’s so damn eager to please, he’ll do anything to be considered good. He walks to the bed as if there were a magnet pulling him there and sits patiently, awaiting instruction.

 

“Such a good boy for me, aren’t you?” Taeil approaches him.

 

Sicheng nods eagerly and reaches out to wrap his arms around the wolf’s waist. “Yes, I’m a good boy.”

 

Sicheng’s forgotten all about his plan to talk to Taeil when the wolf’s got him laid out on the bed, one leg hooked over his leg to spread him out and two fingers pumping in and out of him.

 

“See, you don’t need a boyfriend. Not when you have me,” Taeil whispers by his ear. Even when saying something so possessive he always manages to make his voice sound so soft and nonthreatening.

 

Sicheng thinks that sounds strange but he also feels himself clenching around Taeil’s fingers.

 

“Right?” Taeil urges with a smirk, feeling the effect his words have on Sicheng’s body.

 

Sicheng nods hesitantly.

 

“Say it.”

 

The puppy whimpers and pushes against Taeil’s fingers, loving his gentle, assertive tone more than he should.

 

“I don’t need a boyfriend cause I have you,” Sicheng answers.

 

“Good boy,” Taeil grins and kisses his lips. Sicheng wraps his arms around his neck and squirms around the fingers in his ass. Taeil pulls back and looks down disapprovingly.

 

“I’m sorry,” the puppy pouts, “it feels so good.”

 

Taeil pauses for a moment and kisses his lips again. “I’ll let it slide this time since you’re being so sweet. Being such a good boy for me.”

 

“I am?” He squeaks out, desperate for more praise. His hand moves down near Taeil’s hips and he lovingly rubs his neglected member. Taeil pushes his hips into the touch.

 

“Yes, baby. You’re so good, aren’t you?”

 

Sicheng nods eagerly at the acknowledgement.

 

“You’re my puppy?”

 

He nods and clenches around his fingers again.

 

“Tell me.”

 

“I’m your puppy,” Sicheng whines, fucking himself desperately onto the fingers inside him.

 

“That’s right. Mine,” Taeil says, his voice unfittingly soft as he thrusts his fingers in and out of Sicheng’s hole faster until the puppy cries.

 

“You’re my alpha?”

 

“Yes, baby.”

 

Sicheng moans at that. “Can I cum, please?”

 

“Aw, look who remembered their manners. Yes, you can cum since you’ve been so good.”

 

Sicheng wraps a hand around his length and jerks himself off until ribbons of cum are decorating his tummy and slick is pouring from his hole. His hand stills over Taeil’s bulge as he releases, and begins to move again as he comes back to his senses. Taeil’s fingers slow down inside of him and he pulls them out to bring them to his mouth, sucking them clean with his eyes locked on Sicheng’s.

 

“Thank you,” Sicheng whispers.

 

Taeil grins down at him. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

 

They make out for a few moments while Sicheng’s hand continues rubbing Taeil.

 

“You want to touch me?”

 

Sicheng nods. “Can I please?”

 

“Of course, baby. You’ve earned your treat.”

 

Taeil takes his shirt off while Sicheng scoots down the bed and finds a cozy spot between his legs. He pulls his pants down and eagerly gets to work.

 

He’s been sucking the older boy off for a while when he gets an idea. He pulls off and looks up at the wolf who’s lying there completely blissed out. Sicheng rubs him with his hand while he scoots closer to the wolf.

 

“What is it, baby?” Taeil frowns, noticing the way Sicheng is staring at him.

 

Sicheng pouts and moves closer, moving his legs over Taeil’s so that he’s partially sat in his lap. He looks down to his cock and whimpers.

 

“You want me to fuck you?” Taeil smirks.

 

Sicheng nods and whimpers pathetically.

 

“Sweetheart… we shouldn’t. Not yet. You’re not even on birth control.”

 

“I’ll get on it,” the puppy pleads.

 

“We still can’t do anything right now.”

 

“Do you have condoms?” Sicheng asks.

 

“No.”

 

He whines.

 

“Why don’t you finish what you were doing, yeah?”

 

“I’m already prepared and everything, though. I’m still really wet.” Sicheng sits down in his lap and rubs their lengths together. “And I can just—” He shoves three fingers inside himself to further prepare his hole for Taeil’s massive member. “See? I got three fingers in easy. Now I can…” He grabs Taeil’s dick and puts it by his entrance but Taeil holds his wrist to stop him. “Don’t you wanna breed me, alpha?” And he sits on his cock.

 

Taeil gasps and instinctually thrusts into him, making Sicheng cry out. From there Taeil slowly pushes in and Sicheng twitches every few moments, but he eventually adjusts to the size and by the time it’s all the way in, Taeil’s hips pressed to his bum, he’s gasping and choking for words because it feels euphoric.

 

“Ah, you’re so big, alpha,” Sicheng whines, arching his back.

 

“Baby, we should…” Taeil trails off. “You’re not on birth control.”

 

“I don’t wanna be,” the puppy pouts.

 

“What are y-…”

 

“It feels so good. You’re so big.”

 

Taeil starts to fuck him, slow thrusts up and down, and the puppy squeaks every time Taeil presses all the way in. His hips stutter and he keeps grabbing Sicheng about to pull him off but then the puppy sinks all the way down onto his cock and it feels too good to push away.

 

“I want you to breed me, alpha, I want you to put pups inside of me.”

 

Taeil feels a wave of heat hit him, and his dick pulses inside of Sicheng. His vision even goes blurry for a second and he curses to himself. Once the fog clears he realizes how big of a mistake he’s making. He grabs Sicheng’s hips and pulls him off, pushes him back against the bed. The puppy mewls and cries in protest, scrambling to get up but Taeil holds him down. He wraps his hand around Sicheng’s neck and fists his cock until his release.

 

Sicheng bursts into tears upon seeing the wolf’s knot swell and his load spill all over his tummy. He dips his fingers in it and brings them to his mouth to savor the taste. Taeil watches him sob and suck on his fingers and he loves it, loves seeing him so desperate to have any part of him he can. He fucking loves it but if Sicheng can’t control himself then he has to control both of them.

 

Taeil finishes and his grip on the boy’s neck loosens up. Sicheng lays there for a few minutes crying and sniffling, and when he eventually calms down he crawls over to the wolf to wrap his arms around his neck to cuddle him. Taeil holds him and pets his hair, kisses his cheeks, and tells him he’s a good puppy as he jerks him off.

 

“You really mean it?” Sicheng whimpers, bucking into his hand and Taeil lets him be greedy for this short while.

 

“I always mean it,” Taeil speaks softly, hoping to soothe the puppy and gently bring him back from his irrational headspace. “You’re so good, baby.”

 

Sicheng smiles softly and nuzzles into him as he cums.

 

Taeil needs to say something, but he doesn’t think Sicheng could handle any criticism right now so he waits. They clean up and go to bed and he plans to bring it up with him the following day. Meanwhile he has to deal with Sicheng refusing to let go of him and whimpering as he buries his face into his neck by his bond bite, even hours after they’ve had sex.

 

“Am I not a virgin anymore? Even though you didn’t knot me? You were still inside me,” Sicheng giggles into his neck, kissing the junction of his neck and shoulder.

 

“I suppose you’re right.” Taeil pets his head and plays with his ears.

 

“You took my virginity.” Sicheng lifts up to be face to face with him and softly kiss his lips.

 

“I did, yeah,” Taeil grins. He can’t help but feel a surge of possessiveness at the statement.

 

“I’m glad it was you, hyung. I love you.”

 

“I love you too, baby.”

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Sicheng is just as clingy the next day, hanging on to the wolf and pouting when he has to let go. Texting him all day, even through class and asking if he was good the night before. He runs to him when they see each other again at the end of the day. Sicheng scouts his scent and whispers in his ear, “I missed you, alpha.” He slowly pulls back with wide eyes and he splutters. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

 

Taeil laughs nervously, feeling a heat rise to his cheeks. “It’s okay.”

 

Sicheng gulps and nods, and even though he’s embarrassed they still hold hands on the way home.

 

But, then he does it again. When Sicheng has to go get ready for his night out with Yuta and he’s hugging the wolf goodbye. He scouts his scent for the umpteenth time that day and kisses his lips, whispering as he pulls away, “I’ll see you later, alpha.” He pulls back and gulps hard with his big, scared eyes.

 

Taeil’s eyes are big, too. He has no clue what to say. Making the same mistake twice within a couple hours is… concerning, to say the least.

 

“I’m sorry,” the puppy pouts, standing and nervously fiddling with his hands. “I-I didn’t… I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” Taeil chokes out.

 

“I gotta go,” Sicheng mumbles and scurries out of the room.

 

He spends a ridiculous amount of time getting ready. His brain is frazzled from his interaction with Taeil and he’s nervous to see Yuta. He can’t find anything to wear and he keeps looking at his hair thinking that it looks weird for some reason, and his ears won’t stop twitching.

 

Sicheng and Yuta go into the city and walk by the river hand in hand, trying various street foods and the Chinese cotton candy Sicheng mentioned.

 

Sicheng just feels so guilty. He’s with an amazing boy and he should be having a great time but he can’t stop thinking about Taeil. How can he justify kissing him and being intimate with him while he’s out with Yuta? And how can he kiss Yuta when just last night he had been with someone else? Ending the thing he has going with Taeil is not a viable option. It’s too good. _Perfect_ , even. He can’t give it up.

 

Yuta keeps leaning into him and kissing his cheek, and Sicheng just pretends to be shy and blush when he turns away and avoids any potential mouth to mouth contact. But Yuta’s charms work like magic on him. By the end of the night after they’ve walked up the stairs he’s got the younger boy pressed against the door and a hand up his shirt, like before. Sicheng is a slave to his body, can’t push away such a handsome lion when said lion is kissing and sucking on his neck and it feels like he’s melting.

 

Yuta holds him close and unlocks the door behind him, leading him inside towards the living room, where Yuta’s room is located on the other side down a hallway.

 

“Stay with me, tonight,” Yuta whispers in his ear.

 

“Uh…” Sicheng blushes for real this time. “I don’t know…”

 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to, baby. But the offer is open,” Yuta says and pulls away from Sicheng, sensing his hesitance.

 

“Okay.”

 

Yuta smiles at him and leans down to press one last kiss to his lips.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

 

“Yes,” the puppy nods. “I had a great time by the way.”

 

Yuta chuckles. “Me too. I’m glad you liked it.”

 

“Good night, hyung.”

 

“Good night, love.”

 

They part ways with a hug and Sicheng goes straight to the bathroom to wipe his neck down and brush his teeth, and he changes clothes before he goes into Taeil’s room so the wolf can’t smell anything suspicious. Sure, he embarrassed himself earlier but the thought of being away from him any longer is unbearable so he hurries to his room.

 

Taeil smiles softly at him when he opens the door, and he sits up to welcome his friend.

 

“How was your night?” The wolf asks.

 

“It was good, I’m kind of tired now. We walked around a lot,” Sicheng answers and sits down on the bed beside Taeil. He grins at the wolf and hugs him, his nose slowly inching towards his neck and Taeil sighs, knowing what he has to do.

 

Sicheng says something before he can. “Hey, I have something to tell you.”

 

“Oh? What is it?”

 

“I, uh… I started taking birth control today,” Sicheng blushes, “so we can’t do anything tonight, but tomorrow… we can do whatever we want.”

 

“Actually, I was going to talk to you about that…”

 

“About birth control?” Sicheng frowns.

 

“No. About— doing stuff together.”

 

“Oh. Well, what about it?”

 

Taeil takes a deep breath and a few moments to collect himself.

 

Sicheng pulls away slowly with a worried look on his face. His ears start shaking and he pouts, thinking he knows what this is about. “I’m sorry,” he whimpers.

 

“No, baby, what are you sorry for?” Taeil pulls him close again and pets his soft ears.

 

“For what I said earlier. I don’t know why it happened but I’ll try not to do it again.”

 

“It’s not really about that.” Taeil rubs his back.

 

“It’s not?”

 

“There’s something else.”

 

“There’s more?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Taeil clears his throat and scoots back a little so he can get a proper look at his friend. That makes the puppy nervous, and he reaches out to hold the wolf’s hand for comfort. Taeil grins and squeezes his hand. “It’s about last night.”

 

Sicheng nods.

 

“What happened, and the stuff we were saying to each other… Or, the stuff you were saying to me, to be specific.”

 

“What do you mean?” Sicheng breathes, confused and panicking, although he has an idea of what the wolf might mean.

 

“What you did, you know, with my knot… and, the breeding talk.”

 

Sicheng’s eyes flit around the room in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

 

“We can’t let that happen again.”

 

“I’m on birth control now, we can do whatever we want and it won’t be a problem. No pups, we don’t have to worry about that.”

 

“I mean, you and me, as friends, shouldn’t be talking about that sort of stuff together.”

 

“Isn’t that just what people say when they have sex?”

 

“Sure, but… not friends.”

 

“We’re best friends.”

 

Taeil looks at him disappointedly, because he’s not getting it.

 

“You didn’t like it?” Sicheng pouts. “I thought it was cute.”

 

“We can’t talk about— _shit_ , having children together. It’s going to drive me insane.”

 

“That’s just what people say when they’re having sex, I don’t see the problem, hyung,” Sicheng shrugs, squeezing his hand.

 

“But, also—” Taeil shakes his head and screws his eyes shut, “you and Yuta. Why… why do you want to do this with me if you’re dating Yuta?”

 

“I told you we aren’t dating.”

 

“Then what did you guys do tonight? Did he kiss you?”

 

Sicheng can’t lie to his best friend. He splutters, not knowing what to say or how to react and he ends up just not saying anything.

 

“Look… we were just supposed to fool around every once in a while, remember? Remember what I said to you? I said I’d help you if you really needed me. But, I’ve been thinking and I can’t recall ever knowing any hybrid friends who… do this together this often. Cause then you get into talking about breeding and friends don’t- that’s not- that’s not what friends do. I don’t think that’s normal. I’ve never heard of friends doing that together.”

 

Sicheng gulps, feeling tears prickle his eyes. “Y-you’re saying it like you didn’t enjoy it. I-I thought you—”

 

“Of course I enjoyed it, Sichengie. I enjoyed it too much. I’m… I’m scared. I’m really scared.”

 

“Of what?” Sicheng scoots closer to him and rubs his hand soothingly.

 

Taeil warily looks up at him. There’s a long pause, and when he speaks his voice is barely audible. “I’m scared that I was wrong.”

 

Sicheng frowns. “Wrong? About what?”

 

Taeil takes a few moments before muttering a reply.“About the imprint.”

 

Sicheng just blinks. “What?”

 

Taeil doesn’t respond.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Taeil looks at him again. “The imprint.”

 

“You were wrong?”

 

Taeil shrugs, pulling his hand away from Sicheng’s and turning away slightly. “I don’t know.”

 

“How could you not know? What do you mean?”

 

Sicheng is about to speak again but Taeil says something that makes his heart stop. “I mean maybe the thought of being rejected by you is enough to convince myself I’m wrong.”

 

Minutes of silence wedge their way between them. Sicheng pulls his hands away and stares at the floor. Wild thoughts turn over in his head. Thoughts of him and Taeil together, and it doesn’t feel so unfamiliar, after everything they’ve done together, all the time they’ve spent with each other.

 

“Do you—”

 

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this,” Taeil says in a panic.

 

“You’ve clearly been putting this off for a while so we definitely should. We need to talk about this.”

 

“No,” Taeil groans, standing up and taking a step away. Sicheng grabs him by the wrist to keep him in place.

 

“You said there are platonic imprints, right? What’s so wrong about having an imprint on me?”

 

Taeil shakes his head. “They don’t stay platonic. They never- they never stay platonic.”

 

“What do you mean? You said—”

 

“I mean a friend can’t imprint on their friend and just watch them fall in love with someone else and have their kids. The imprint is to ensure that you mate.”

 

Sicheng lets go of his arm and lets a huge breath of air out. He has no clue what to say. Taeil isn’t even looking at him so it’s harder to read the situation. He just stares at the ground for a while, taking glances at the wolf and hoping he’ll say something to fix it all.

 

“So you… you like me?”

 

Taeil laughs, rubbing his hands over his face. “You like Yuta.”

 

“Yeah, but… but—”

 

“Do you like me?” Taeil counters, staring down at Sicheng and the puppy panics.

 

“I-I mean I-you’re my best friend. I like Yuta. But, I have an obligation to you, alph—” Sicheng stops himself with a choked whimper.

 

“Jesus, would you stop fucking calling me that?” Taeil fumes.

 

Sicheng has never seen him like this and it’s scary. He feels hot tears prickling his eyes and tears spilling over his cheeks in a matter of seconds. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

 

Taeil stares at him for a moment, making the puppy shake and whimper under his stern gaze. The alpha approaches him and grabs him by the jaw, looking into his teary eyes.

 

“You don’t have any feelings for me?”

 

“N-No,” the puppy squeaks.

 

“Really? Crying over my knot, begging for it, calling me alpha, and you’ve been so clingy since I first touched you. Haven’t you?”

 

“I-I-I don’t know,” Sicheng breathes out. He knows they’re arguing now which is why he feels even guiltier when he feels a little twitch in his pants from Taeil’s words.

 

“Just last night you were begging for me to breed you. Bet you wanna be claimed too, huh? Want me to claim you and make you my omega?”

 

Sicheng feels slick gathering by his hole and he’s nervous, doesn’t want Taeil to smell it and embarrass himself. Taeil’s still got Sicheng’s face in his hand but Sicheng won’t look at him.

 

“Look at me,” Taeil demands, his voice as quiet as always but his tone is stern.

 

Sicheng’s eyes hesitantly flicker up to look at him and he whines when they finally make eye contact.

 

“You want me to claim you?”

 

Sicheng can’t help but sob when he feels slick leaking out of him and he knows he can’t hide it anymore. He can smell it, there’s no doubt that Taeil can smell it.

 

“You do like me. I can get you dripping wet in a few seconds just from talking about claiming you. You wanna be mine so bad,” Taeil scoffs, letting go of his face and stepping away.

 

“You’re not actually going to do it?” The puppy cries.

 

“Go ask Yuta for help,” Taeil says.

 

“No.” Sicheng stands and walks over to Taeil and wraps his arms around him. “I want you, alpha. I want you to claim me. I want to be your omega, please, alpha.”

 

“You’re not a wolf, you can’t be an omega.” Taeil puts a hand on his chest and gently pushes him away.

 

“But, you just said- you just said I-… you said I could be, I don’t- I don’t understand,” Sicheng sniffles, trying his best to stop crying but Taeil keeps upsetting him.

 

“What’s not to get? Omegas are wolves. You’re a puppy. You can’t be an omega.”

 

“But I want to be! I want to be your omega so bad, please please please, I’m sorry I tried to pretend like I didn’t want to be but I do, I do, please let me, please, alpha.” Sicheng tries clinging to him again but Taeil just pushes him away.

 

“Wouldn’t you also just love Yuta to claim you? To take you in his bed, pin you down and put cubs inside of you?”

 

Sicheng’s eyes widen because that just sounds wrong, hearing Taeil says something so explicit about Yuta. But at the same time Sicheng feels a bit of slick leak out of him yet again.

 

“Of course you would.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Sicheng says.

 

“For what exactly?”

 

“For everything, for hurting you. I’m sorry.”

 

Taeil nods. “You should go.”

 

Just when Sicheng thought he was done crying, he feels his lip quivering all over again. “I can’t sleep without you.”

 

“Go ask Yuta to keep you warm.”

 

Sicheng gives up. He steps away from the wolf and he slowly makes his way to the door, hoping that Taeil will grab him and pull him back and keep him in his bed. He doesn’t want to be alone, especially after hearing how much he’s hurt his best friend.

 

Sicheng turns back as he’s about to close the door. “I’m gonna sleep by myself. I’m not going to Yuta.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Sicheng closes the door and walks to his room, changing into his pajamas and curling up in bed. It’s impossible not to cry, being completely alone after a fight that didn’t end in an apology. He doesn’t know how he’s going to fix it or if he even can fix it. He only falls asleep after he’s exhausted himself from crying.

 

Sicheng doesn’t see Taeil the next day, partially because he’s avoiding him but also because Taeil seems to be avoiding him as well by staying out of the house all day. He stays in his room crying and watching cartoons, thinking of things he could say to Taeil to fix everything. Nothing seems good enough.

 

The next day is pretty much the same, except Yuta sees him and tries to talk to him. He’s got an obvious look of sadness and exhaustion on his face, so Yuta approaches him gently and asks what’s wrong. He shakes his head and walks away. He doesn’t deserve to talk to Yuta.

 

Kun knocks on his door too but he pretends to be sleeping, and his friend texts him later asking him what’s wrong and he replies saying he thinks he’s sick.

 

Sicheng goes to school on Monday having successfully avoided everyone all weekend. He’s not sad anymore, just worried. Worried that he’ll choose the wrong time to try and apologize, that he’ll say the wrong thing, or that Taeil won’t want to hear it at all. He has to apologize to Yuta as well. But, Yuta isn’t even aware of the situation so that’s even worse. His heart feels heavy in his chest the whole school day as he tries to focus on his work and instead thinks about two hybrids who deserve someone much better than him.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Taeil isn’t close enough with anyone else in the house for him to confide in them about what he’s going through, so an idea pops into his head. He’s still upset with Sicheng and he knows things won’t fix themselves, so he musters up the courage to go to someone he knows might be able to help.

 

Yuta has no clue what’s going in, even though he’s a key component in the problem. Taeil feels obligated to fill him in. So, he goes to his room one night to tell him.

 

Yuta is very surprised to see Taeil when he opens the door. Taeil is standing there with a soft, awkward smile.

 

“Hi. Can we talk?” He asks.

 

“Um…” Yuta frowns in confusion, “sure. Come on in.”

 

Yuta’s scent is heavy and strong in his room, as expected. It makes Taeil feel a little threatened. He’s so used to smelling it on Sicheng and feeling the urge to wash it off that being completely surrounded by it is disorienting.

 

“What is this about?” Yuta asks, closing the door.

 

“You might want to sit down,” Taeil says, sitting on Yuta’s bed and suddenly Yuta feels threatened. Another dominant hybrid waltzing into his room and sitting on his things, not even asking before he does so.

 

Yuta sits down, though, swallows his pride and lets the other man speak.

 

“It’s about Sicheng,” Taeil begins.

 

“Yeah, something’s been up with him recently.”

 

Taeil nods. “First, I have a question.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Are you two dating?” Taeil asks, his eye contact unwavering and Yuta feels his defensiveness growing moment to moment.

 

The lion sits up straight and coughs. “I’d say we are, yes. Nothing official yet but it’s certainly heading in that direction. Why?”

 

“Right, well… he told me you weren’t.”

 

Yuta’s posture drops, his face drops, and he sighs. “Fuck, that’s… I mean… I guess we hadn’t talked about it in detail but for him to just say that, uh… why exactly are you telling me this?”

 

Taeil knows he shouldn’t be so blunt but he kind of just wants to upset the lion, as sick as it sounds. He’s spent so much time being jealous of him with no leverage over him, so he says it. “We’ve been having sex.”

 

Yuta chokes, he has to clear his throat and shake his head and he stares at the other hybrid with anger in his eyes. “What? What the fuck? You guys are friends, why… Why the fuck…”

 

“He told me you guys weren’t dating so we kind of just—” Taeil shrugs.

 

“But, you guys are friends?”

 

“We’re definitely past that now.”

 

“What happened?” Yuta asks carefully, and Taeil gets the sense that he doesn’t really want to know the answer.

 

“Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he made it clear that he likes both of us. Obviously that upset me and I’m sure it upsets you, too. It’s why I’ve been avoiding him.”

 

“Shit, I don’t even know what to say.”

 

“I just thought you deserved to know… Also, I have no one else to talk about this with.”

 

Yuta looks at him. “Thanks for telling me, I guess?”

 

Taeil nods.

 

“So, you haven’t talked to him at all?” Yuta asks.

 

“No, not at all. I’m still trying to cool down from the whole thing. We had a pretty bad fight. I think we both need time to just forget all that anger and then we can speak when we’re more clear headed.”

 

“Pretty bad? Do you think he’s okay?”

 

“Hopefully,” Taeil sighs. “I want to talk to him but I really think time is the best antidote when things like this happen. And I still don’t even know how I feel about the whole situation.”

 

Yuta waits a beat before responding. “Maybe I exaggerated a little.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, we weren’t really dating. I teased him about the fact that we were on a date, and we kissed a lot but we really only went on two formal dates, and even then he wasn’t calling it a date. I just said it to flirt with him a bit.”

 

Taeil takes a few moments to process that.

 

“I was feeling a bit territorial... still am. You know, with you in my room and all.” Even with Yuta admitting this the tension is still very high. Taeil is on high alert and he’s ready to react to anything.

 

“Yeah. I understand.”

 

“What exactly happened between you two the other night?”

 

“You really want to know?”

 

Yuta nods.

 

“Well… I told him that I probably had an imprint on him but he said he liked you. But, I was convinced that he had feelings for me because he had been acting weird before that. So, just to test it, I asked him if he wanted me to claim him and in a matter of seconds he was begging me to be his alpha. Obviously I didn’t receive that well after what he said about you, so I told him to leave. And he had been crying the whole time and, yeah, it was just really intense.”

 

Yuta gulps hard, feeling his guard build up again. Taeil’s words rubbed him the wrong way and he can feel his cheeks and ears flushing red. Even after talking to Taeil for a while, and hearing that he didn’t mean to hurt anyone, Yuta feels more territorial and heated than before.

 

He’s mad. They’re both mad. Taeil is extra attentive because he’s in another dominant breed’s rooms surrounded by his scent talking about how they’re basically sharing a potential mate.

 

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that,” Yuta breathes out.

 

“You asked. I told,” Taeil shrugs, leaning back on the bed to rest on his hands.

 

"Yeah, no shit."

 

Taeil scoffs.

 

A thought flashes through Yuta’s mind as he watches how Taeil opens up, his chest on display and his arms behind his back. He tries to push it away but it nags at him until he’s forced to address it. His eyes trail down the length of Taeil’s body and he feels himself get hot when he sees a slight bulge in the wolf’s pants and realizes they’re thinking the exact same thing. He looks into the other hybrid's eyes. The other hybrid slowly open his legs with a soft smirk.

 

"Stop it," Yuta growls and looks away.

 

“You want to claim me, don’t you?” Taeil chuckles flirtatiously.

 

Yuta looks down and fights the urge to jump the other hybrid. “You've been touching him this whole time and I didn't even fucking know.”

 

"And he _really_ enjoyed it. Do you know how kinky he is? He loves being choked and slapped around and all this rough—"

 

"Shut the fuck up!" Yuta roars. "You guys were just having sex. He was dating me. He's mine."

 

"Did he ever say that, though? He literally could not stop calling me alpha. He's mine."

 

“He’s not yours, you never claimed him.”

 

“Neither did you. Plus I have an imprint on him.”

 

“That doesn’t give you a right to him. I’ve known him for longer.”

 

“And I’m closer with him now.”

 

“And if you hadn’t fucked him we’d be dating by now and I would have claimed him already.”

 

“I could’ve already claimed him. When he put himself on my knot and begged me to put pups inside of him. And begged me to be his alpha while he—”

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Yuta roars, lunging forward and pushing the wolf down on the bed, struggling to grab his hands and hold his arms above his head. “He didn’t say that, he didn’t fucking say—”

 

“He was begging me to breed him. Kept calling me alpha even after we had finished.”

 

“I’d like to see you try and claim me. I’m bigger than you and you’re not even putting up a fight.”

 

Taeil chuckles and completely relaxes on the bed. “I’m too angry to care anymore... Besides, I already submitted to you by walking into your territory,” Taeil sighs, shifting to get comfy in Yuta’s strong grip. “And maybe I wanna see how you’d fuck me, see if Sicheng’s missing out on anything.”

 

Yuta laughs, using a hand to grab the wolf’s jaw and look over his face to see if he’s being serious. It appears so. "You just said all that to get me angry."

 

Taeil shrugs. "Maybe. Doesn't mean I was lying though."

 

"Oh, fuck you."

 

“Oh, you want me to show you how I fucked Sicheng?” The wolf teases and fumbles with the zip on the lion’s pants, grinding himself up in between in legs. Yuta groans and grinds down into him.

 

Yuta smirks. “I’d rather fuck the ego out of you.”

 

Taeil reaches into the lion’s pants and pulls his cock out, stroking him and making the other hybrid buck into his hand.

 

“You got any lube? I’m not an omega, I can’t make slick.”

 

Yuta slips off the bed and pulls his shirt off in the process, fetching a bottle of lube from his nightstand. Taeil takes his shirt off as he watches the lion, and begins to unbutton his pants but the lion crawls back on top of him, kissing him hungrily and wrapping a hand around his throat.

 

Taeil isn’t used to being submissive, in fact he never has before. But the anger was just too much to handle and he didn’t want to deal with it anymore. He submits to the lion eagerly, letting himself be flipped over fingered, fucked and degraded and choked, and it’s more intense than anything he’s ever done to Sicheng. Yuta fucks him relentlessly, holds him down and calls him his omega, and right before he’s about to finish, he growls lowly in Taeil’s ear, “You really want me to claim you?”

 

“Fuck, yes,” Taeil pants.

 

Yuta bites him and he’s claimed.

 

After they’ve both finished and caught their breath, they’re lying there on the bed and Taeil turns to Yuta, feeling much more blissed out that angry now, and still riding that post-orgasmic high. “I can’t believe you actually did it.”

 

“Hey, you asked me to.”

 

“It’ll fade within a couple days if I don’t bite you back,” Taeil shrugs.

 

There’s a long pause.

 

“Fuck, that was intense,” Yuta sighs.

 

“Yeah, I’m exhausted.”

 

“You should crash in here.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, Sicheng will probably smell you if you go upstairs.”

 

They take turns in the downstairs shower and Taeil dresses in Yuta’s clothes to sleep, making him feel even more like he belongs to the lion. For some reason that doesn’t make him gag. Being fucked and claimed by him has put a spell of submissiveness on him, and he finds himself wanting to find more ways to submit to him. What a foreign feeling, he thinks, but certainly not an unpleasant one.

 

What’s even more shocking is that they fuck again the next night. Taeil comes to his room to talk about what happened the night before.

 

Yuta opens the door and smiles awkwardly, stepping aside and letting him in. Taeil stands in the middle of the room with his hands in his back pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels as Yuta approaches him.

 

“Any updates on Sicheng?” Yuta asks.

 

“None,” Taeil shakes his head.

 

“What about you?”

 

“What about me?” Taeil laughs shyly.

 

“You know, do you have anything you want to say to me?” Yuta smirks.

 

“I kinda want to talk about last night.”

 

Yuta nods, stepping into his space and swiping his thumb over the wolf’s bond bite. Taeil shudders under his touch and takes a half step back, and Yuta takes a half step forward so he doesn’t get too far away.

 

“You don’t regret it, do you?” Yuta asks, his voice softer now that he’s so close to the wolf.

 

Taeil shakes his head. “No. Not at all.”

 

That makes the lion smile.

 

“Are you still angry?” Taeil asks.

 

“Not as angry as I was last night, no. Just a little bit.”

 

“So… you don’t wanna…” Taeil’s voice tapers off towards the end, and he gives a soft shrug, implying Yuta should know what he means.

 

“What, you need me to fuck you again? You like being submissive that much?” Yuta teases, caressing his neck and thumbing over his bond bite again.

 

“No, I just… maybe, but—“

 

“You wanna switch?” Yuta tangles his hands in Taeil’s, his demeanor becoming shy all of a sudden and he hesitantly steps even closer into the wolf’s space, leaning in closer to his face.

 

Taeil is still adjusting to the sudden change in dynamic when Yuta softly presses their lips together in a kiss. Taeil has no choice but to assume the lead. They kiss like that for a while, Taeil guiding Yuta through it. Opening his mouth up and his tongue prodding in, swirling around and licking at his teeth.

 

Yuta pulls away and grins coyly, “I’ve never had a knot before.”

 

Taeil isn’t rough with him. He takes on the role of a gentle but assertive leader and pushes him onto the bed, strips him and orders him around with a kind voice. He holds the lion’s legs up by his head as he fucks into him, but he’s more passionate and less angry, unlike how Yuta was the night before.

 

“Do you think Sicheng will be mad at us?” Yuta pants.

 

“Don’t you think he’d like seeing us like this?” Taeil counters, and Yuta blinks, probably not having considered that before. A smirk forms on his lips. “If Sicheng was here he’d sit on your cock while I knotted you, and we’d all claim each other,” Taeil says gruffly.

 

“Oh, fuck,” Yuta moans. “I wish he was here.”

 

“I know, our little puppy. Just thinking about claiming him makes me—”

 

“Fuck, Taeil, I’m gonna cum,” Yuta holds onto him tighter. “Claim me.”

 

“You want me to?”

 

Yuta nods. “Then all we’ll need to do is claim our Sichengie.”

 

Taeil leans down to bite him as he cums and his knot swells inside of the lion. Taeil whispers sweet praises to him and pets his hair as he waits for his knot to swell down, and Yuta looks so happy. Pink cheeks and a content smile and he giggles every time Taeil says something sweet.

 

Taeil stays in his room again and they go into the city together the next morning, holding hands on the way there and Yuta can’t stop looking at him.

 

“You should tell me more about you. You know, since we’re kind of bonded.”

 

“Kind of?” Taeil chuckles.

 

“You know what I mean. Like I’m looking at you and I feel all mushy and it’s making me feel a little weird cause I don’t actually know that much about you.”

 

“What do you want to know?”

 

“Hm… what classes do you take?”

 

Taeil and Yuta tell each other about themselves on the commute to school. And they talk about Sicheng, each of their relationships with him. The conversation moves to what their intentions are.

 

“I wasn’t expecting to like you,” Taeil laughs awkwardly. “And maybe it’s the bond bites but you’re actually not bad. Can’t say I’m shocked cause Sicheng clearly likes you a lot.”

 

“You’re not too bad either. I also can’t say I’m shocked considering you literally stole Sicheng away from us, so you had to be pretty fucking amazing,” Yuta chuckles and Taeil elbows him in the ribs. Yuta leans in to kiss the wolf’s lips and the wolf freezes.

 

“I’m sorry, that was weird.” Yuta pulls away.

 

“What about it?”

 

“Kissing you in a nonsexual context.”

 

The wolf thinks on that for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t mind.” He scoots closer to the lion and turns his body towards him, smiling softly and leaning in to kiss his bond bite. “How could I not kiss you when you look this pretty with my mark on your neck?”

 

“Anyway, back to Sicheng.” Yuta pushes at the wolf’s chest.

 

“Hm?”

 

“We should talk to him tonight.”

 

“Yeah, we should.”

 

“I miss him so much,” Yuta pouts.

 

“I know. I do too.”

 

“What do you want to happen?”

 

Taeil blinks, his eyes scanning the train as he thinks about everything he wants for himself and Sicheng, and Yuta now. “We obviously can’t make him choose.”

 

“Yeah, we’re way past that.”

 

“So, we…”

 

“If he’s not opposed to it, then…”

 

Taeil chuckles. They’re both scared to say it because it’s new, revolutionary, even. They haven’t quite articulated it yet but it came up when they were together the previous night. It makes sense for their situation but it’s just such a daunting decision, so unconventional and neither Yuta nor Taeil can recall a relationship they’ve seen with the dynamic they desire.

 

“All three of us?” Yuta asks carefully, so insecure that Taeil is going to turn to him with a deep frown and ask him what the fuck he’s thinking. But, Taeil nods.

 

“At this point it’s all or none,” Taeil says.

 

“So, all three of us.”

 

“I want that, if you want it.”

 

“I- yeah, yeah, I definitely want it,” Yuta chuckles, an enormous weight lifting off his shoulders and he laughs while simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief.

 

“Now we just have to ask him.”

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Taeil and Yuta are in the kitchen cooking dumplings, Yuta’s arms around the wolf’s waist and he’s kissing his bond bite when Sicheng walks in. Yuta had been too busy scouting Taeil’s scent to notice, and Taeil’s nose was preoccupied with the dumplings so they both whipped around when they heard a gasp in the doorway.

 

“What the hell?” Sicheng freezes. He glances back and forth between their necks.

 

Taeil and Yuta look at each other.

 

“We should talk,” Taeil says.

 

“The dumplings?” Yuta whispers to Taeil.

 

“ _Shit_.” Taeil turns the stove off and puts the pot to the side. “The dumplings can wait. Let’s talk.”

 

Sicheng gulps, averting his gaze and wading through his hesitance. He nods.

 

“We can go out in the gardens to talk. There’ll be lots of privacy there.”

 

“Okay,” the puppy mutters.

 

Yuta and Taeil lead the way to the back of the garden, Sicheng lagging behind. They both sit down and watch the puppy slowly walk up to them and sit down in front of them with his head still hanging low.

 

“So, you guys…” Sicheng trails off, picking at the grass.

 

“Yeah,” Taeil sighs. “I told Yuta about everything and we’ve been talking. That’s what we need to talk about all together.”

 

“B-before you say anything…” Sicheng interjects, “I just want to say that I’m really sorry for hurting you both. I never did it intentionally, I just didn’t know what to do. I know it seems like I was trying to juggle you both at the same time, but that’s not what it felt like. I didn’t really even know I had feelings for you, Taeil, until you made it clear that I couldn’t have you. And after that I kept thinking I should choose between you two, not that you would even want me. But, I realized that I couldn’t. I don’t want to. So, I guess I’m glad that you two found each other. In some weird, twisted way I guess that rights all of the wrongs that I’ve—”

 

“Sicheng, we do want you,” Yuta interrupts him.

 

Sicheng looks up at them. “What?”

 

“I know your apology is sincere and I know you well enough to know you’d never hurt someone on purpose. I accept your apology, I forgive you,” Taeil says.

 

“I feel the exact same way, I forgive you.”

 

“Really?”

 

“We just needed some time to calm down from everything,” Yuta adds.

 

“So, you’re not mad at me?” Sicheng asks carefully.

 

“Not anymore, no,” Yuta answers.

 

“No,” Taeil shakes his head.

 

Yuta reaches out to hold Sicheng’s hand, Taeil following in step, and then Taeil holds Yuta’s hand.

 

“Why do you have…” Sicheng glances at their bond bites.

 

“When I went to tell Yuta about everything that had happened, we sort of just…” Taeil looks to Yuta.

 

“We were really angry and we took it out on each other,” Yuta finishes Taeil’s sentence for him.

 

“Oh,” Sicheng blinks, shocked to hear their confession, “Wow.”

 

“We wanted you to be there with us,” Taeil speaks softly.

 

Sicheng blushes at that, laughing nervously and trying to hide his face in his hands. Taeil scoots closer to him and places a hand on his thigh. Yuta scoots closer as well and rubs his back.

 

“I’m sorry for everything that I said that last night we talked,” Taeil says. “I was so angry thinking that I couldn’t have you, and that you wanted Yuta. Things have changed now and I feel very differently from how I felt that night.”

 

“I understand,” Sicheng nods with his face still partially hidden. He’s still not over the fact that the two boys he likes are sitting in front of him and they don’t hate each other. They’re so close to him, touching him and surrounding him and he can’t help but get a little flustered. “You had every right to be mad.”

 

“What we’re trying to say is,” Yuta begins, “if it doesn’t sound too crazy to you, now that we’ve bonded,” he gestures to himself and Taeil, “we want you to be with us. All together.”

 

“Like... all three of us?”

 

Yuta nods.

 

“You guys are, like… I thought you just said you… _you know_ , because you were angry?”

 

“Then we did it again the next night and it wasn’t angry. It was sweet, and we were talking about you,” Taeil says, rubbing Sicheng’s neck.

 

“Oh my god,” Sicheng says, taking a deep breath. “If you really mean it then, yes, of course I want it. I just didn’t think—”

 

“Of course we want you, silly!” Taeil grabs the puppy by the face and kisses him. Sicheng is startled but he reciprocates, relaxing into the kiss and hugging the wolf through it. When he pulls away Yuta places a gentle hand on his face and guides him to his lips. They kiss while Sicheng still has an arm around Taeil and he puts another one around Yuta. When he pulls away they all hug and Yuta and Taeil kiss.

 

“I think we made enough dumplings for three people,” Yuta says. “We should have a picnic dinner out here, it’s such a nice evening.”

 

“That sounds great,” Sicheng beams.

 

They go back inside and fill their bowls with dumplings, grabbing a blanket for their spontaneous picnic and hiding away in the back of the garden.

 

Sicheng has loosened up again, and he keeps looking back and forth between the lion and the wolf, totally giddy to see them together.

 

Yuta picks up a dumpling with his chopsticks and holds it out to Sicheng, but it’s still too far away so Sicheng gets on his hands and knees to lean forward and try to capture it in his mouth. He feels Taeil place his hands on his hips as he’s chewing the dumpling, and then he’s being pulled in between Taeil’s legs and captured in a back hug.

 

“I missed you so much, puppy,” Taeil whispers in his ear.

  

Sicheng pouts and looks at him. “I missed you too.”

  

“Let’s never be away from each other for that long ever again,” Yuta says.

 

“Okay,” the puppy grins, reaching out for Yuta.

  

Yuta crawls in between the puppy’s legs and dips down to kiss him, then to the side to kiss Taeil.

 

“Now that we’re made up I wanna correct something I said,” Taeil says to Sicheng.

 

“Hm?”

 

“You can be my omega,” he whispers and kisses his lips.

 

“And you can be my little cub,” the lion teases, sitting up straight with his legs tucked under himself, spreading his legs in between Sicheng’s so the puppy’s are forced to spread too.

 

The puppy’s smile drops and he whimpers. He feels Taeil kissing his neck and before he can even react, Yuta is swooping down and kissing the other side of his neck. He’s put under a spell of tingles and warmth, and he shifts under the touch but Taeil grabs his hips to keep him still.

 

“Remember what I said about moving?” Taeil whispers.

 

“Ooh, I wanna know,” Yuta grins.

 

Taeil smirks and rubs his hands over the puppy’s chest. “Sicheng’s not allowed to be greedy and move too much. He’s only allowed to take what we give him if he wants to be a good boy, right?”

 

“Right,” Sicheng nods, looking up at Yuta for his reaction. The lion is intrigued.

 

“And if we're uncomfortable then we should use the word mango. Or three squeezes if someone's mouth is filled up,” Taeil smirks.

 

“Yeah, okay," Yuta grins, looking down at the blushing pup. “He seems like he’d be such a good boy,” he preens, brushing the boy’s hair out of his face and smiling down at him.

 

“He can be a bit of a brat,” Taeil corrects him. “You have to be very stern with him or else he gets an attitude. But he's a good boy.”

 

Yuta’s lips part in shock. “Oh, I love brats,” he says under his breath.

 

“I’ll try to be good,” Sicheng pleads to them.

 

“You’ll try?” Taeil attempts to clarify. “You mean you think you could be bad?”

 

“I mean, I will be good. That’s what I meant. I want to be good for both of you,” the puppy whines.

 

“Aw, he’s already so worked up,” Yuta coos, caressing the boy’s face and smoothing his hands down his body.

 

“Cause I missed you guys, I want you so bad.”

 

“If you keep acting all needy we’re just going to want to tease you for as long as we can,” Taeil lifts up the puppy’s shirt and brushes his fingers over his nipples.

 

“I’d love to see him beg,” Yuta dips down to suck on his nipples.

 

Sicheng squirms a little but Taeil whispers a stern, “Stay still,” by his ear and he stills.

 

“He cries so easy, if you tease him for long enough,” Taeil chuckles.

 

“Don’t tell him that,” Sicheng begs. “I’m not gonna cry this time.”

 

Yuta laughs down at him, further embarrassing the puppy.

 

“Really? You won’t cry even if I give my knot to Yuta instead of you?”

 

“What? No, you wouldn’t do that, don’t-don’t say that,” Sicheng panics, looking into Taeil’s eyes to see if he’s just teasing or if he might be serious.

 

“Yuta’s already had my knot, baby, he could probably take it better than you.”

 

“No, I can take it. I’m still on birth control, I can take it.”

 

“We’ll see,” Taeil teases.

 

Yuta helps Sicheng take his shirt completely off and he kisses down his body, leaving marks all over his torso and lightly cupping his growing bulge. The puppy can’t stop squirming and Taeil doesn’t like that.

 

“Stop squirming,” Taeil whispers to him, and it’s so soft that it feels even more threatening.

 

“I don’t know,” Yuta shrugs, “if he squirms that just means we get to hold him down. Now doesn’t that sound fun?”

 

Taeil chuckles. “Actually, yeah.” He scoots back so Sicheng is forced to support himself on his elbows, and the puppy watches him take his shirt off. Yuta follows in suit. Taeil crawls on top of his chest and caresses his face.

 

“You gonna be a good puppy and suck your alpha’s knot?”

 

“Yes, alpha,” Sicheng nods.

 

Taeil unbuttons his pants and slowly pulls his cock out, and the puppy whines and tries to grab at it but Taeil pushes his hands away and lightly slaps his face.

 

“Don’t you remember you have to ask for permission before you touch?”

 

“I’m sorry, alpha. Can I touch you now, please?”

 

“I’ll do it for you,” Taeil says and moves forward to slip his cock in the boy’s mouth, grabbing his hands and pinning them above his head. Sicheng whines as the wolf fucks into his mouth, but he gets used to it as he relaxes his body and fully submits to him. He lets out a strangled cry around his cock and Taeil looks back to see Yuta fingering their puppy.

 

Taeil grins and keeps fucking the boy’s mouth, letting up every now and then to hear him cry out for his alpha.

 

“Yuta,” Taeil gestures to Sicheng, “you wanna see?”

 

Yuta grins excitedly and crawls up the blanket. He wraps his arms around Taeil’s waist and looks over his shoulder to see his cock thrusting in and out of the puppy’s mouth, tears staining his cheeks and drool dripping down his chin.

 

“He’s so fucking pretty like that,” Yuta mutters.

 

The alpha smirks and pulls his cock out, letting the puppy have a break and get a full breath. Sicheng looks at Yuta with the biggest, glossiest eyes and pouts, “ _Daddy_.”

 

Yuta’s lips part in surprise and he and Taeil smile at each other.

 

“You want Daddy to fuck your mouth now?” Taeil asks.

 

Sicheng just nods and reaches out for the lion. Taeil crawls off of him and Yuta slips his pants off before crawling on and burying his length inside the boy’s soft, wet mouth.

 

“Good boy,” Yuta moans as he slowly picks up a pace, trying to see how much he can fit in and how much the puppy can handle.

 

Sicheng cries out again and this time Yuta looks back to see Taeil entering the puppy, watches Taeil’s hips press flush against his ass and start rolling his hips into him. Yuta pulls out of the puppy’s mouth and turns around, sitting on his face again and leaning forward to kiss Taeil.

 

And there they are, all three of them intertwined and pleasing each other. Yuta eventually moves behind Taeil and fucks him, and then they switch so Taeil can fuck him and he gets a turn inside Sicheng. Yuta finishes first and Sicheng begs him to claim him, so that’s exactly what he does. He bends down and bites into the puppy’s neck, and Sicheng bites him back. Sicheng hasn’t finished yet so Yuta pulls out and cuddles up against his side as Taeil positions himself between his legs.

 

“Should I give him my knot or do you wanna see him cry?” Taeil asks Yuta.

 

“Daddy, please let me have his knot,” the puppy whines, giving the lion lots of kisses to try and persuade him. “I’ve been a good puppy.”

 

“He has been good,” Yuta answers.

 

“He’ll probably still cry if I give him my knot,” Taeil says.

 

Taeil is right. When Taeil cums and his knot swells inside of the puppy, Sicheng cums so hard he cries. Sobs, actually. He sobs and cries out for his daddy and his alpha. Yuta strokes his cock all the way through and whispers sweet things in his ear when Taeil leans down to claim him and sinks his teeth into the other side of his neck. Taeil stays down, laying on top of him and Yuta wraps his arms around both of them. They stay like that for a while, wrapped around each other until Taeil’s knot swells down.

 

They cuddle up on the blanket together and watch the stars come out, kissing and cuddling and making plans for a date the next day. After quite some time they dress again and run back into the house. Thankfully the shower is big so they can all fit inside together, and they sleep in Taeil’s room because the bed is the biggest, making plans to tell the house as they fall asleep.

 

☆ ✿ ☽

 

Five months later Taeil and Yuta find themselves front row at the Seoul City University End of Year Dance Performance, hand in hand and anxiously waiting for their puppy to come on stage. And when he does, they’re shocked. He wouldn’t let them see him before the performance because he was so nervous, but, gosh. He’s beautiful, eyes covered in dark makeup and he’s dressed in an intricate black and white uniform that matches his crew. He gets tons of solo time and Yuta films the whole thing on his phone, occasionally shaking the camera because he’s so excited and can’t take his eyes off of the gorgeous boy.

 

The older hybrids congratulate him after the show with a bouquet and lots of kisses, and they take him home and claim him while he’s still got his eye makeup and uniform on. The three hybrids couldn’t be happier, lying there in each other’s arms and thankful that Sicheng’s confusion brought them together all those months previous. Telling the house had been stressful. Some of them were confused and some were ecstatic, others were intrigued. Kun was among the ones who congratulated them, as expected, being one of Sicheng’s close friends.

 

Some of the hybrids didn’t even know that forming more than one bond link was possible, but there they were. Two bond bites to each neck and six bond bites in total. The house eventually accepted them and after a couple months every one forgot that it had ever been weird at one point.

 

Sicheng and Yuta moved into Taeil’s room and they had to get a big dresser to fit all of their clothes which took up quite a bit of room. But, it didn’t matter. They spent most of their time in bed watching cartoons and rolling around in their own little world.

**Author's Note:**

> PHEW that was fucking long wasn't it? feedback is appreciated! Kudos as well if you enjoyed it, and thank you for reading <3 @deviIstoy (L is an i) on twitter. 17+ only.


End file.
